Students' body requests Sitharaman to shift IAF firing range

A students' body in Arunachal Pradesh has requested Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to shift the Indian Air Force (IAF) firing range at Dullungmukh in Lower Subansiri district to a suitable place, where there was no human habitat nearby.

The All Dullungmukh Area Students' Union (ADASU) submitted a memorandum to the Union minister, who was here yesterday, drawing her attention to the dangers posed by the bombing practices at the firing range to the lives of people who stay in close proximity, a member of the union said.

The memorandum, a copy of which was available with PTI, stated that the air and sound pollution caused by the regular bombing practices adversely affect the health of people in the area.

The defence minister was also apprised of a 1992 incident, in which a person was accidentally killed during a bombing practice in the firing range.

"No compensation has been given to the victim's family till date," the memorandum added.

On May 25, too, the residents of the area had met a visiting delegation of National Human Rights Commission, led by Justice HL Dattu, to intimate them about the problems faced by the people living in the vicinity of the IAF firing range.

Sitharaman, while responding to a media query on the issue yesterday, had said she would hold a dialogue with the state government after getting a detailed report from his officials.

Arunachal Information & Public Relations Minister Bamang Felix, who also present at the press meet, said the state has already taken up the matter with the Centre.