‘Will give strategic advantage to India’
Arvind Sharma
Jammu Tawi, Oct 07: In a first, the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir, bordering Pakistan and China, will have its first emergency landing strip for fighter planes and other advanced jets along the National Highway which will prove to be immensely important from a strategic point of view, reliable sources informed.
“The emergency landing strip for fighter planes and other advanced jets along the National Highway will come up at Bijbehara-Chinar Bagh falling in Anantnag District of Kashmir region,” reliable sources informed.
This location signifies the strategic importance of the emergency landing strip for fighter jets as it is around 40 kms away from Srinagar, they said.
The work for constructing the emergency landing strip for fighter jets is being undertaken by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
Sources said that five (5) emergency landing strips for fighter and other advanced jets have been proposed in the two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
However, the work is not being undertaken due to pending clearance from forest and also the land acquisition issues.
“The work for constructing the emergency landing strip for fighter planes and other advanced jets along the National Highway at Bijbehara in Kashmir region has been started,” Regional Officer, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), Rohin Gupta informed.
Meanwhile, sources informed the Northlines that union minister for Roads and Surface Transportation, Nitin Gadkari has set March 31st 2022 as the deadline for completion of the emergency landing strips for fighter jets.
Strict directions have been given to the concerned authorities to complete the work of emergency landing strips before March 31st, 2022, they said.
The proposed 5 strips would be used for emergency landing of fighter jets near the International Border (IB) and the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan, and the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.
The 5 emergency landing strips along the National Highway have been proposed at Bijbehara, Srinagar-Banihal highway stretch, Jammu-Pathankot National Highway, Jammu-Poonch highway and Ladakh.
Once constructed, the emergency landing strips will boost the capability of the Indian Air Force (IAF) besides giving India the strategic advantage in Jammu and Kashmir and also Ladakh over its hostile neighbours, Pakistan and China.
