Thursday, March 4, 2010

AIRBASES & RAIL LINES FOR ANDAMAN ISLANDS

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portblair_airport2.jpg
 
With hundreds of uninhabited islands in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago making it vulnerable from the security perspective, India is planning to open more airbases in the islands.
 
The Indian Navy chief, Admiral Nirmal Verma said last month that India was planning to revamp the infrastructure in the 572 odd islands in the Bay of Bengal.
 
“The airstrip up north (Northern Andaman islands) needs to be refurbished. Even for smaller aircraft it is a tight fit,” Verma told PTI.

The airfield at Shibpur, Diglipur (North Andaman) is about 1,000 feet in length and is inadequate for smaller cargo aircraft like Dornier and AN-32. Currently, only helicopters are capable of conducting operations from the airfield.

More airfields and helipads will boost the surveillance and logistics capability of the Indian armed forces along the significant archipelago, located about 700 nautical miles away from the Indian mainland.

Senior officials say more airfields in the Andaman and Nicobar tri-service command are also in the offing.

Presently, there are airbases in Port Blair, Car Nicobar, and Campbell Bay. According to senior Indian Naval officers, plans are afoot to spread out air power in other islands like Katchal (Nicobar District) and Hut Bay (Little Andaman).

“We also intend to bring in night landing facility at the airbases,” Verma said.

The Indian Navy has recently inducted its amphibious vessel Landing Ship Tank (LST) in the Andaman and Nicobar command.

“We have inducted an LST and soon we will be inducting Operation Patrol Vehicles constructed at the Goa Shipyard Limited,” Verma said.

Andaman and Nicobar islands are significant for increasing surveillance in the Indonesian Strait and the Bay of Bengal. It would also help India extend its maritime power in South China Sea before the Chinese foreclose the option.

Coincidentally, in her annual budget speech, Ms Mamata Banerji, Minister for Railways in India proposed 114 socially desirable projects for updating the surveys and then to process through the Planning Commission. The proposed Port Blair-Diglipur line stands at serial No. 84 in the list of 114.

She said in her budget speech, “In my last budget speech, I had highlighted the need to take up socially desirable projects connecting backward areas. Many proposals for such connectivity have been pending for a long time. It is proposed to update the surveys for the following lines and thereafter these will be processed through Planning Commission for necessary approvals.”

Well, although this would be a good stride ahead in terms of the development of the serene island territory, whether the government goes about implementing these plans meticulously extending due consideration and caution to sensitively crucial issues such as environment, ecology, tribal and reserve forest issues etc., remains a big question mark…

Courtesy: PTI


17 comments:

  1. we have already seen that....how the how serious government have been abt the islands around Bay Of Bengal.....by loosing one of the most ancient languages.......

    won't be surprised if this statements will just be statements......and not realized......

    Let's hope for the best......it would be great if big cargo ships can connect with the Islands.....it will save a lot of time......water ships speed can feel to slow some times......

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  2. I agree....in this fragile world ecology has to be given first preference.

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  3. It’s good news that India is planning to open more airbases in the islands

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  4. An interesting Blog sir
    My only wish is that the Black background is replaced with something more light. This is only suggestion.

    I have added your blog link, in my Blog
    Any issues please let me know and I will remove it

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  5. The first question that came to my mind as I read this was that are they keeping in my mind ho preserve the environment from further destruction ?

    he development is good.. but I hope the nature dosn't have to pay for it !

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  6. @hitesh rawat Pretty aptly said, dear Hitesh! In fact, these developments can be carried out without the environment and the ecology of the islands getting harmed only if it's done scrupulously and intelligently with proper planning, which, unfortunately, has not been the case all the while. Thanks for your kind opinion, indeed. Cheers!

    @Tarun Mitra Very true, dear Tarun! I truly appreciate your aware solidarity with the burning issue of environment protection. Thanks! :)

    @Silvia Martin Of course, it is, dear Silvia, provided it does'nt end up disturbing the ecology of these pristine islands any further. Thanks for your good opinion. See you back here soon for more from you. Cheers! :)

    @prashant Thank you for your kind admiration and the accompanying suggestion, dear Mr. Prashant Nayakanti...! I would surely look into and see what can be done. And please feel free to keep my blog link in your blog-list. See you back here soon for more from you...! Thanks again! Cheers! :)

    @We Cognize Very true, dear Niharika! In fact, I hope and wish the mankind doesn't have to pay for any untoward developments as a result of imprudent 'developments'... ;) Great to see you here! Thanks for dropping by with your valuable and passinate opinion. See you back soon, for more. Cheers to you! :)

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  7. The place is of strategic importance for India , although the current efforts seem to be on right side all will depend on the speed of execution of the tasks ..

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  8. Like all the others I hope these developments don't disturb the beauty and tranquility of these islands with undue pollution and noise. The record of governments and industry in respecting nature and native peoples is not very good.

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  9. @Ankit Very true, dear Ankit! Thanks for dropping in with your good opinion, Cheers!

    @nothing profound Categorically right, there, my friend! For now, let's keep our fingers crossed...! Thanks for your kind solidarity with the issue! Cheers!

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  10. While it is true that the ecology of these pristine nature's gifts are not to be disturbed the very safety of them is definitely more important. Hence the developments for protection will have to take place. Perhaps we can voice the concerns for protection of ecology to the agencies concerned effectively to safeguard.

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  11. Ks Anand @Facebook page: - Strategically located important lifeline for National security and Close proximity to Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore etc etc ...should bring in further development for prosperity ! Air connectivity is a good idea. Road connectivity to Diglipur (North Andaman) with a stretch of 105 Kms is already there. Earlier we had one famous (now antique museum piece) small ship SS CHOLONGA which some times used to drift away to Burma and later we had MV Andamans with tilted gravity followed by MV HARSHVARDANA etc etc....We had only once a week Dakota flight from Calcutta via Rangoon ! then Boeings entered .... later from Chennai !
    We faced lots of hardship for inter-island travel, connectivity, quality of Journey and mode of reservation was extremely poor. i still remember when i had no other go and had to walk across the wild jungle from Diglipur to Kalighat on foot in Mansoon to reach Port Blair via Rangat to fulfill important formalities for my professional course in 1980 ! Slept overnight in one Rangat school to catch the bus next morning !

    We do need these links for over all growth and development. Our coast guard will be even more powerful to block the un-authorized sea fishing from the intruders.

    Britishers and Japnese have come and gone ! Its high time that the security issue has to be tackled effectively !!

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  15. It is really an uplifting moment that due attention is being given to the Andaman & Nicobar Islands! Thank You, Sir for enlightening all of us about this very interesting security upgrade!

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  16. @Parth J Dave Thank you, dear Parth, for your admiration! Have an energising weekend ahead! Cheers! :)

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  17. That's good news for Peace and my country!

    ReplyDelete