Whatever the case, after a fire, a lot of the saved resources also go waste. AS the recommendations of the army's inquiry into a depot fire are classified, nobody but the top brass knows what they were, and to what extent they have been implemented. The inquiry into the Bharatpur incident, headed by Major General C B Subu, held elephant grass, poor storage, poor maintenance and extreme heat responsible. Just days after, there was another fire at the Dehu Road ammunition depot, about 20km from Pune. Again, elephant grass was blamed.
Dry grass is an open invitation for fires, especially in summer.
But in India, in most cases, even contracts to cut grass cannot be worked out and troops end up doing the job with machetes. Congress general secretary Ambika Soni, who is also a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, admits that storage facilities have not got priority in recent budgets. Funds were diverted to more vital areas. Whatever money was there was diverted to the more urgent needs of the army. The defence ministry spokesman, Dr P K Bandyopadhyay, agrees that storage is one area that has been ignored over the years.