Army’s Kibithu base in Arunachal named after first CDS late Gen Bipin Rawat

The military camp in Kibithu, Arunachal Pradesh has been renamed as ‘Gen Bipin Rawat military garrison’ in the honour of the country’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) who was killed in a chopper crash last December.

Kibithu is a small hamlet on the banks of the Lohit Valley in Rest of Arunachal Pradesh (RALP) close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Gen. Rawat commanded his Battalion 5/11 Gorkha Rifles here as a Colonel from 1999-2000.

A gate built in local traditional architectural style was inaugurated by the Governor Brig D. B. Mishra (Retd). The 22 Km-road stretch from Walong to Kibithu was dedicated as Gen. Bipin Rawat Marg by Pema Kandu Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh. 

The event was at attended by Lt Gen R. P. Kalita, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command and daughters of Gen Rawat among others. 

A life size mural of the General was also unveiled by the Governor at the event which was also attended by locals from Kibithu and Walong.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) Mi-17V5 helicopter with Gen. Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 12 others including his staff, the pilots and crew was enroute to the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington from Sulur on December 8 when it crashed in the Nilgris in Tamil Nadu close to the destination.

A tri-services inquiry ordered by the IAF headed by Air Marshal Manvendra Singh, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Training Command found that the accident was a “result of entry into clouds due to unexpected change in weather conditions in the valley. This led to spatial disorientation of the pilot resulting in Controlled Flight into Terrain.”