Visakhapatnam: Working at Andaman had always been fascinating for the workers at Vizag-based Naval Armament Depot. Among the 29 on the missing Indian Air Force aircraft, eight persons are from the NAD.
Experts in gun repairing and maintenance belonging to the ‘Afloat’ section of the NAD are very often taken by the Indian Navy for the work on the ships of Andaman and Nicobar Command.
A majority of the workers show ‘special interest’ to go to the picturesque Andaman on work on a short trip. NAD also has a store at Andaman in which four persons from Vizag unit are deployed there every two months on rotation. An eerie calm prevailed when this correspondent visited the NAD Colony on Saturday.
There are instances where workers of the Afloat unit request those selected by the section in charge to allow them to go to Andaman instead of them. “We don’t say it as a jostle or competition among them, but everyone likes to go to Andaman on work as it’s a short trip and it will be like a short getaway from here besides work. They make ‘adjustments’ among themselves to go there requesting the in charges and convincing the fellow workers,” said a worker of the guided weapons section of the NAD.
Though they are not eligible, workers prefer to go by aircraft since it is a Herculean task for them to get the ticket fare reimbursed and other claims if they go by ship.
It was on Wednesday the eight members left from Vizag in a train to Chennai. On Friday morning they were taken in an IAF aircraft to Port Blair.
