A Hercules C-130J plane of the Indian Air Force (IAF) carrying Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat, conducted a mock emergency landing on the national highway on Thursday.
NH-925, which connects Barmer and Jalore towns, is India’s first national highway to be used for emergency landing of IAF aircraft.
Gadkari and Rajnath Singh on Thursday inaugurated a three-km-long emergency landing strip for the IAF aircraft. Gadkari assured the IAF that the emergency landing strips for the armed force’s planes will be developed within 15 days instead of 1.5 years.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) took about 19 months to construct the emergency landing strip on Satta-Gandhav stretch on NH-925 in Barmer.
“Yesterday, when the honourable IAF Chief came to me, he told me that it took 1.5 years to develop this landing strip (in Barmer),” Gadkari said in his speech here after the inauguration.
“Then I told him that we would develop good quality landing strips for you within 15 days instead of 1.5 years,” he added.
Gadkari said the Armed forces should create a small airport here. “As per my knowledge, there is no airport here in the area of around 350 km. I have told CDS (Chief of Defence Staff) Bipin Rawat that you can create a small airport here,” the Minister said.
“If you need land, we will give it to you. You should conduct your defence activities there, and there would also be small set of civil operations. If private airlines start one or two daily flights, local people will get benefited too,” he added.