Delhi Cantonment
Cantonments in the country were originally built outside city limits, and the Delhi Cantonment is no exception. But with its development spreading outwards, the city of Delhi has over the years engulfed the cantonment area and turned it into prime property, all the more desirable because it is still relatively verdant and unspoiled by concrete. Over time, it has also been encroached upon, sometimes obstinately enough to withstand repeated demolitions by the army authorities.
The Delhi Cantonment is not the biggest in the country, but it assumes tremendous importance because of its capital location. It contains the command headquarters, the 505 Rajputana Rifles and the Delhi Garrison. It houses the entire staff of the Chief of Army Staff - the general staff, including senior level lieutenant-generals, major-generals and brigadiers. Being a self-sustaining unit, it also houses all the required departments, including transport and supplies. For the purposes of the security context being discussed, however, the most important are the Central Ordnance Depot (COD) and other ammunition dumps.
The cantonment complex is bisected like a wound by a nala (sewage drain) that runs through the cantonment and across the heart of West Delhi. Running along with the drain for a kilometre is a dense, sprawling jhuggi-jhonpri (JJ, or slum) cluster of more than 1,500 families. The drain, which passes through the core area of the cantonment, also slides by the residential quarters along Cariappa Marg, the Army Base Hospital and the strategic Central Ordnance Depot [COD] and the ammo dumps.
The highly-sensitive 42.97-sq km Delhi Cantonment area is probably the most vulnerable armed forces zone in the capital. While the army's threat perception for the "cantt" is very high, the authorities appear entirely complacent about hermetically sealing it off, or even monitoring its perimeter.
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