NH-925 is the first national highway in India to be used for emergency landing of IAF aircraft.
Barmer:
Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari inaugurated an emergency landing strip for Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft on the Satta-Gandhav section on National Highway 925 here on Thursday.
IAF’s Hercules C-130J aircraft carrying two ministers and Chief of Defense Staff Bipin Rawat made a mock emergency landing on the national highway on Thursday. NH-925 is the first national highway in India to be used for emergency landing of IAF aircraft.
The two ministers also witnessed the operation of several aircraft at the Emergency Landing Facility (ELF) of NH-295 on Thursday. Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jet made a mock emergency landing at ELF. Air Force Chief RK Bhadauria was also present on this occasion.
An AN-32 military transport aircraft and IAF’s Mi-17V5 helicopter also landed at ELF, showing their full operational readiness to act as an auxiliary military airbase.
In his speech, the Defense Minister said that at present a total of 20 emergency landing strips are being developed across the country similar to Barmer.
“A number of helipads are also being built with the help of the Union Road Ministry. This is an important step to strengthen our security infrastructure,” he said.
He said that there was a view that the country’s development would be affected if more was spent on defence.
“But today, seeing an emergency landing strip on a national highway, I can safely say that defense and development can go hand in hand,” Mr. Singh said.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has developed a 3-km section of the Satta-Gandhav section of NH-925 as ELF for the IAF.
“By creating such a band near the international border, we have given a message that we will stand for the unity, diversity and sovereignty of our country at any cost,” Mr Singh said.
He said that such construction of emergency landing strip instills a sense of confidence in the Indian psyche.
This emergency landing strip will be helpful not only during war but also during natural calamities, Shri Singh said that natural calamity is no less than a war.
In October 2017, IAF fighter jets and transport aircraft made a mock landing on the Lucknow-Agra Expressway to show that such highways can be used by IAF aircraft for emergency landings.
The Lucknow-Agra Expressway, which is not a national highway, comes under the Uttar Pradesh government.
The emergency landing strip, which was inaugurated on Thursday, is part of the newly developed two-lane paved shoulder of the Gagaria-Bakhsar and Satta-Gandhav sections under the Bharatmala project, with a total length of 196.97 km and a cost of Rs 765.52 crore.
This highway project will improve connectivity between the villages of Barmer and Jalore districts located on the International Border.
Under this project, three helipads (100×30 meters in each size) besides emergency landing strips have been constructed at Kundanpura, Singhania and Bakhasar villages as per the requirement of Indian Air Force and Indian Army.
ELF and three helipads have been developed to strengthen the security network along the western international border of the country.
During normal times, ELF will be used for smooth flow of road traffic and during operation of ELF for IAF, service road will be used for smooth flow of road traffic.
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