I C Srivastava was born in 1943. A student of English Literature, he joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1966. During his 37 years tenure, he was Collector/ District Magistrate of three districts, served as the Chairman, Board of Revenue, Rajasthan, and retired as Chairman, Rajasthan State Mines and Minerals Corporation. He has authored several books in Hindi and English. Nowadays, he is associated with various social and cultural activities in Jaipur.
In 1971, I was the Collector and District Magistrate of Rajasthan's Barmer district (area over 28000 sq. kms.), which has a border with Pakistan.
After the outbreak of Indo-Pak War on 3 December 1971, Barmer witnessed a series of bombing operations by Pakistani warplanes. These planes would usually fly out from Badin Airfield in what was West Pakistan at that time. On the very first day and the night itself, Pakistan Air Force planes destroyed an Indian Air Force aircraft at Uttarlai airfield in Barmer district and martyred one Indian airman. After random and intermittent bombing of Chohtan, a border tehsil town, and the bed of a rural water tank near Parehpadra Tehsil headquarters, Pakistani warplanes mounted an air assault was mounted on the Railway Station in Barmer city on the night of 8December 1971.
As District Magistrate and ex-officio Civil Defense Controller, it was a part of my essential duties to inspect and find out first-hand the impact of and the damage caused by enemy air sorties and bombing.
