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Construction of emergency landing airstrip on NH-44 for Indian Airforce starts in Kashmir

WION
NEW DELHIWritten By: Ieshan Bashir WaniUpdated: Jun 04, 2020, 02:56 PM IST
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The work on the runway has started on a war footing and the 3.5 kilometre long runway will be used as an emergency runway facility for fighter jets in case of any emergency. Photograph:(WION)

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The airstrip is targeted to be completed in just 8 months with men and machinery working hard to complete the target. The construction is being done by the National Highways Authority of India through its contractors.

The construction of a 3.5-kilometre-long emergency runway-cum-landing strip for the Indian Airforce has started adjacent to the National Highway NH-44 in Bijbehara area of South Kashmir.

The runway will be strategically important for the defence forces in the valley and will help in rescue and relief operation in natural climates and other situations.

The airstrip is targeted to be completed in just 8 months with men and machinery working hard to complete the target. The construction is being done by the National Highways Authority of India through its contractors.

emergency runway facility

“This is an emergency runway. We have 8 months to complete this project but due to lockdown and bad weather, we had to stop this work,” Parveen, a survey engineer told WION.

In 2017, the Indian Airforce cleared 12 national highways as emergency landing airstrips across India which includes Maoist-affected Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, reports said.

This is the first such project in Jammu & Kashmir where India and Pakistan airforces engaged in an aerial dogfight after the Pulwama terror attack in 2019 which killed 40 CRPF men.

The runway can be used by the fighter jets & helicopters to land and take off in emergencies.