Isolated by the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges, Ladakh (the largest district in Jammu and Kashmir) is the sort of place that requires planning ahead, thinking strategically and being prepared. Mountains aren’t the only obstacle to carefree living; challenges from snow mean the Manali-Leh highway from Himachal Pradesh is only open for a few months a year. So, if you are trying to sustain a community of a few thousand, it’s important to receive necessary supplies during that brief, crucial window when transporting them is possible. Ahem. I said it’s important:
The army of the Northern Command found seven tankers supposed to be carrying diesel to the Ladakh region had been filled with water instead.
Well, so much for THAT bit of strategery.
The army thinks middlemen sold off the fuel en-route from the filling depot.
The case has embarrassed the army, which needs to stock up on fuel before snows cover the mountain passes.
Colonel R.K. Sen, the spokesman for the Northern Command at Udhampur stated that a tip was received regarding the filched fuel. With the help of police, a raid proved the tip to be true. According to the Colonel, this sort of thievery is unheard of…apparently, no one ever thought to make off with several thousand litres of fuel before.
“It appeared the contents of these tankers were sold off either at Ambala [in the northern state of Haryana] itself or en-route to Leh.
“The incident has caused serious concern for the army as it needs to stock diesel, petrol and kerosene for the winter months before the mountain passes close in September and October.”
While promising a thorough investigation into the case, Police have already zeroed in on the drivers of the tankers, for their inability to pass gas successfully to Ladakh.
This is really interesting, but only brings out the obvious. Everybody knows that the whole Army procurement and supply chain system is full of corruption. You take an example of any deal, Bofors, Coffins, Ammunitions, Snow Boots,…everything has its fair share of scams.
The oil companies themselves agree to large scale pilfering and adulteration during supplies.
In case of civilian supplies, it is the depot manager and other senior oil company executives that are robbing us. The transporter is just a facilitator, and the driver is just a driver getting a few extra Gandhis.
In case of military supplies, it cannot be done without the involvement of a lot of corrupt officers.
But who is loosing? It is us tax-payers who paid for the “diesel”.
honestly… didn’t someone think… hey eventually they’re going to realize that this is water and not deisel?
couldn’t the thieves just use cow dung like all the other farmers to cook their food with?