Apart from giving a boost to tourism, the Uttarakhand government’s recent plan to introduce Sea Planes in the state could give added advantage to the security forces in surveillance activity on Indo- China border and help state administration during the time of natural calamity.
Sea Plane captured the imagination of the people recently, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi used it in election campaign in Gujarat. Denied permission to hold road show, Prime Minister used Sea Plane for the campaign, boarding at Sabarmati river front in Ahmedabad and disembarking from it at Dharoi Dam. Incidentally, the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat was at New Delhi on the day PM was garnering brownie points in his election campaign in Gujarat and popularising sea plane; during his meeting with Union Surface Transport minister Nitin Gadakari the Sea Plane was one of the issues discussed. Gadakari advised that with many water bodies Sea plane can be used as a medium of transport in Uttarakhand.
Interestingly, the proposal to use sea plane was put forward by some entrepreneurs before the Uttarakhand Tourism Development board two years ago. The operator then had shown his willingness to use Rishikesh barrage, Tehri lake and Naini lake as destination for aero sports. The Tehri district administration had even conducted a hydrographic survey of Tehri lake for the Aero sport activity. This report has been gathering dust since then.
Experts opine that Sea plane can be introduced in the state but an integrated plan involving state administration, police, civil aviation officials and security agencies is needed to bring it into reality. Marine specialist, Vipul Dhasmana suggested that Air Traffic Controller of (ATC) of Jollygrant and Pantnagar airport can take care of air traffic clearance part in Garhwal and Kumaon respectively while control rooms for regulating traffic and landing takeoff clearances in the water bodies are needed to be set in place. An elaborate plan for security check ups as in the airports is also required to prevent any subversive activity. Dhasmana who also is a member of Uttarakhand adventure tourism and water sports committee said that the state lacks qualified marine surveyors for introduction of Sea planes. He was of the view that these planes can be handy for the administration for search and rescue operation during the time of natural calamities. In view of easy maneuverability and operational simplicity, the armed forces can also take them for activities like surveillance and fast mobilisation of troops in a state like Uttarakhand which shares its international border with a deceptive and dangerous neighbour like China.
Sea plane used for the first time during world war II, the sea planes are extensively used in many countries engaged manly in inter and intra island transport. It powered fixed wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing in water. They can take off and land in the water bodies with only 1-2 feet of water.
For their capability to operate from airfields they are also termed as amphibious aircrafts. A normal Sea Plane can ferry 12 persons and its costs about Rs 12 Crore.