A training centre for Border Security Force (BSF) cadets near Nadapuram in Kozhikode district still lacks proper drinking water supply and a good road even three years after it started functioning.
The centre at Areekkarakkunnu in Chekkiad grama panchayat became operational in 2018 on a 50-acre plot donated by the State government. As many as 1,250 personnel under the 184 Battalion ‘Nadapurians’ and their family members are staying there. It was supposed to be the second largest training facility of the force in South India after Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.
However, the personnel and their family members have still not been given basic amenities. In the summer of 2018, a majority of the personnel had to shift to the Coimbatore centre after their efforts to source water from a local waterbody failed. Though land was bought to construct a well, it did not yield desired results.
Local sources said the centre had been facing shortage of drinking water ever since land was acquired for it. Around 5,000 litres of drinking water is required a day. About 20,000 litres of water is needed for other purposes. At present, water is being brought by tankers from places such as Kallachi and Chelakkad.
The BSF authorities’ demand to build a 1.2-km-long road inside the campus is yet to be considered. The State government is yet to hand over five acres of land to set up a Kendriya Vidyalaya for the children of the personnel.
Meanwhile, District Collector N. Tej Lohit Reddy visited the area recently to take stock of the situation there. K. Muraleedharan, Vadakara MP, had met the BSF authorities in July last year and promised to take steps to develop the facility. He had also informed the Kozhikode district administration and the Chekkiad grama panchayat president about the need to improve the centre’s condition. Mr. Reddy said he would try to sort out the problems listed out by the BSF authorities.
