Centre okays 22 high-altitude movable shelters for ITBP

Shaurya Karanbir Gurung

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 26

The Ministry of Home Affairs has authorised 22 high-altitude shelters for the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), deployed along the India-China frontier at altitudes up to 18,700 feet and where temperatures dip to several degrees beyond zero.

The shelters will be set up at border outposts in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Leh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, said Minister of State (Home) Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary in reply to a question in the Lok Sabha during the current Parliament session. He said the shelters would be located at 7,000 feet-plus altitude and 133 of the ITBP’s 166 outposts along the India-China frontier were located above this height.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has sanctioned Rs5.12 crore for the procurement of these shelters (each costing Rs23.29 lakh), according to Chaudhary.

The qualitative requirements (QRs)—specifications of a product as per the requirement of the user—for the shelters were made, but these were not endorsed by the government. It was based on a trial version of the shelter, procured from Alaska, US, and set up in Ladakh about five years ago. The QRs are yet to be finalised and only after it is done, will the tender be floated for these shelters.

Sources in the ITBP, however, said there was a problem in transporting such shelters to high altitudes, these being quite heavy. Several of the areas where the ITBP has been deployed are non-motorable and air-lifting these often may not be possible. “A section comprising 11 men is required to transport one shelter to its location, after which it takes a long duration to set it up and an equal time to dismantle it,” said sources.

The ITBP is also looking for shelters which can be set up on a temporary basis, removed and relocated. However, constant relocation and transportation over a period of time could only make these more rickety, reducing their life span further, said sources.

Another issue is about the availability of space in high-altitude areas. The shelter is about 20 feet by 12 feet and finding space to set it up may not always be easy. The shelter is kept warm by the use of a generator and a heating system, which may not be economical as it required a large quantity of oil, said sources.