The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Karnataka and Kerala Sub Area HQ building to become transit home

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 25, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Karnataka and Kerala Sub Area HQ building to become transit home

Ravi Sharma

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

STATELY: Karnataka and Kerala Sub Area Headquarters building on Cubbon Road in Bangalore.

Bangalore: One of Bangalore Cantonment’s landmark structures, the over 80 year old red and white building on Cubbon Road will no longer house the offices of the Headquarters of the Indian Army’s Karnataka and Kerala Sub Area.

The building whose presence is mentioned in army maps of 1924 is to be converted into a 14-room transit accommodation for army officers, junior commissioned officers and jawans.

With Bangalore being an important location geographically, militarily and weather wise for the British troops, the quaint building was initially the headquarters for the army that was stationed in the Madras district. Later it became home to the Royal Army Service Corp.

In 1947 it was chosen to become the Headquarters of the Bangalore Sub Area that evolved out of the Mysore Sub Area in 1958, the Karnataka Sub Area in 1973, and the Karnataka and Goa Sub Area in 1988 after Goa came under its purview.

In 1995 it became the Karnataka, Goa and Kerala Sub Area with logistical and administrative control over three States, though in 2005 the Army decided to remove Goa from its purview.

Speaking to The Hindu, Karnataka and Kerala Sub Area Commander Brigadier Clement Samuel said that the building will be of great help to army personnel when they are transiting through Bangalore either alone or with their families wh ile on official duty, personal work or on leave.

“Every month we have two courier flights landing in Bangalore full of army personnel, one from Srinagar via Delhi, and another from Guwahati via Bagdogra. The building will help house some of these personnel before they catch connecting flights or trains to destinations close to Bangalore. A number of personnel also come to Bangalore seeking college admissions for their children, or after retirement, placement in the civil sector,” he said.

However, according to Brig. Samuel, the persona of the picturesque building will not be changed. The Army has also decided to retain the old tiles, mahogany and rosewood structures as they are; only putting up divider walls where absolutely necessary. Some of the antique mahogany furniture is to be shifted to the Sub Area’s new headquarters which is located across the road.

Brig. Samuel said that not only had the number of personnel posted to the Headquarters of the Sub Area and in various army units in the two States gone up but there were also substantially more ex-servicemen and their families now living in areas that came under the purview of the Sub Area. This had necessitated shifting to a larger building.

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