India seems to be keen to gain a toehold in strategically important Himalayan border in Pithoragarh to counter Chinese challenge with Nainisaini airstrip which is going to be ready to welcome a 48-seater aircraft by early next year i.e. March 2015.
The fact of the matter is, India still has to traverse the upper Himlayan border with Tibet/China through narrow by-foot lanes due to poor road facility in the said border district. But strategic experts here are now of the view that once the long-awaited Nainisaini airstrip becomes ready early next year as expected, it will greatly help improve mobility on this Himalayan border front.
It is to note that as the officials concerned informed earlier, the Nainisaini air strip was not designed to accommodate a bigger aircraft. Perhaps keeping in view strategic as well as domestic importance of this air base, the Government later decided to upgrade the said air strip for a 48 seater air craft keeping in view certain external challenges.
Construction works are in full swing now to complete this air strip as early as possible, said V K Birthwal , Project Manager, the Uttarakhand Infrastructure Development Corporation (UIDC), Pithoragarh, while talking to The Pioneer in an exclusive interview. It is to note that the UIDC is constructing this airbase project in Pithoragarh.
Probably the airstrip would be ready as scheduled by March next year, he expressed hope. More so, talks are on with the Airport Authority of India and others agencies concerned for facilitating flight of a 48 -seater aircraft from the Nainisaini airbase in Pithoragarh, maintained the officials concerned.
This is a `48 crore project out of which `25 crore has already been released by the State Government for carrying out the construction works. Rest of the amount would be released soon with progress of the construction works, added the officials concerned.
As Uttarakhand’s Pithoagarh region is considered one of the extremely vulnerable parts of the Himalayan state from natural disaster point of view, so apart from its strategic importance, the Nainisani airbase may also come in handy to deal with any natural disaster like situation in that region of the said border district. More importantly, better air connectivity may also boost Uttarakhand’s dwindling tourism sector in border district Pithoragarh, maintained the people associated with the tourism sector here.