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THE PUSH INTO NAXAL TERRITORY
THE INDIAN Air Force is planning a new base near Bhilai in strife-torn Chhattisgarh a strategically located landlocked state spread over 1,036 lakh square km. The base could well be the 61st in the country and the newest in central India, which is currently embroiled in a bloody war with Maoist rebels that has left thousands dead mostly paramilitary troops. The last time Chhattisgarh had any kind of base for the armed forces was during World War II: since then, there has been nothing of the nature or magnitude that is currently being contemplated. The brass of the Indian Air Force and the Chhattisgarh government have had several rounds of high-level deliberations, following which the location of the base was tentatively fixed as Nandini Durg, 40 km from Raipur, the state capital near the industrial town of Bhilai.
The bare essentials for an Air Force base include 3,500 yards of concrete runway, taxiways leading to hangars and an air traffic control tower; all the rest are peripheral requirements, such as staff quarters, technical areas and refuelling hydrants. Says a senior official with the Chhattisgarh government: The IAF has been looking at having an airbase in this part of the country since 2009. Senior Air Force officials led by Air Marshal S Varthaman, Senior Air Staff Officer, Central Air Command based out of Allahabad, have held several rounds of talks with the Governor, Chief Minister and top government functionaries. The proposed base will have Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh to its north and Nagpur in Maharashtra to its west.
Having no Air Force base in this region, the IAF has been scouting for land for quite a while. Now it says the land near Bhilai in Nandini Durg would serve them well, RS Vishwakarma, Secretary Aviation Government of Chhattisgarh told TEHELKA. The IAF has sought 8 square km. If contiguous government-owned land is available, we will transfer it to the IAF at a token amount. But if we have to acquire private land, the IAF will have to bear its cost, says the senior official, adding: They (IAF) have surveyed several sites of which one is near Bilaspur and the other near Bhilai. The final decision, though, has still to be made.
The IAF itself wont reveal much about the proposed base, its spokesman, Wing Commander TK Singha, saying only that the preliminary survey is going on.
According to Air Vice-Marshal Kapil Kak (retd), who is currently Additional Director, Centre for Air Power Studies, a New Delhi-based defence think-tank, The central sector, by virtue of the Red Corridor, and the footprints of the Maoists all over, is crucial. However, it is not as though the IAF will begin to get sucked into counter operations. It is just that an airbase in the sector is long overdue. Earlier, the resources were limited. But now it is possible to have a footprint in this region. I feel it is good to build a critical mass that might help the Air Force in the years ahead. But the timing of the IAF move does hint towards the Centres plans to induct air power in its anti-Maoist operations, about which rumours have been doing the rounds for quite some time now.
SENIOR STATE government officials endorse Kaks contention, saying that, apart from providing much needed assistance in relief-and-rescue operations in the Naxal-infested state, the proposed base will help sanitise the area, besides acting as a deterrent for insurgent activities. Be it floods or a Maoist attack, whenever helicopter services are required we have to requisition from Allahabad or Nagpur. This leads to critical delays. But Vishwakarma is clear about one thing. He would be happy if the state government were to locate land which is free of encumbrances. If the land is already inhabited, we would need to consider the displacement and rehabilitation aspect, he says, adding that the government has, in principle, agreed to provide land for the airbase and a helipad. Since helicopters do not need much of a runway or taxi way, we will help them locate land and provide the necessary assistance.
Air Force bases, and more are being built or planned. Western Air Command is the largest in the country operating 16 airbases, from Punjab in the north to Uttar Pradesh in the east; Eastern Command operates 15 in eastern and north-eastern India; and Central Command seven in Madhya Pradesh and the states surrounding central India; the strategically crucial Southern Air Command, in line with Indias latest doctrine of protecting the vital shipping routes, operates nine bases in southern India and two in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; and South Western Air Command, the frontline of defence where Pakistan is concerned, operates 12 bases in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. India also operates the Farkhor air base in Tajikistan
Tehelka - India's Independent Weekly News Magazine
THE INDIAN Air Force is planning a new base near Bhilai in strife-torn Chhattisgarh a strategically located landlocked state spread over 1,036 lakh square km. The base could well be the 61st in the country and the newest in central India, which is currently embroiled in a bloody war with Maoist rebels that has left thousands dead mostly paramilitary troops. The last time Chhattisgarh had any kind of base for the armed forces was during World War II: since then, there has been nothing of the nature or magnitude that is currently being contemplated. The brass of the Indian Air Force and the Chhattisgarh government have had several rounds of high-level deliberations, following which the location of the base was tentatively fixed as Nandini Durg, 40 km from Raipur, the state capital near the industrial town of Bhilai.
The bare essentials for an Air Force base include 3,500 yards of concrete runway, taxiways leading to hangars and an air traffic control tower; all the rest are peripheral requirements, such as staff quarters, technical areas and refuelling hydrants. Says a senior official with the Chhattisgarh government: The IAF has been looking at having an airbase in this part of the country since 2009. Senior Air Force officials led by Air Marshal S Varthaman, Senior Air Staff Officer, Central Air Command based out of Allahabad, have held several rounds of talks with the Governor, Chief Minister and top government functionaries. The proposed base will have Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh to its north and Nagpur in Maharashtra to its west.
Having no Air Force base in this region, the IAF has been scouting for land for quite a while. Now it says the land near Bhilai in Nandini Durg would serve them well, RS Vishwakarma, Secretary Aviation Government of Chhattisgarh told TEHELKA. The IAF has sought 8 square km. If contiguous government-owned land is available, we will transfer it to the IAF at a token amount. But if we have to acquire private land, the IAF will have to bear its cost, says the senior official, adding: They (IAF) have surveyed several sites of which one is near Bilaspur and the other near Bhilai. The final decision, though, has still to be made.
The IAF itself wont reveal much about the proposed base, its spokesman, Wing Commander TK Singha, saying only that the preliminary survey is going on.
According to Air Vice-Marshal Kapil Kak (retd), who is currently Additional Director, Centre for Air Power Studies, a New Delhi-based defence think-tank, The central sector, by virtue of the Red Corridor, and the footprints of the Maoists all over, is crucial. However, it is not as though the IAF will begin to get sucked into counter operations. It is just that an airbase in the sector is long overdue. Earlier, the resources were limited. But now it is possible to have a footprint in this region. I feel it is good to build a critical mass that might help the Air Force in the years ahead. But the timing of the IAF move does hint towards the Centres plans to induct air power in its anti-Maoist operations, about which rumours have been doing the rounds for quite some time now.
SENIOR STATE government officials endorse Kaks contention, saying that, apart from providing much needed assistance in relief-and-rescue operations in the Naxal-infested state, the proposed base will help sanitise the area, besides acting as a deterrent for insurgent activities. Be it floods or a Maoist attack, whenever helicopter services are required we have to requisition from Allahabad or Nagpur. This leads to critical delays. But Vishwakarma is clear about one thing. He would be happy if the state government were to locate land which is free of encumbrances. If the land is already inhabited, we would need to consider the displacement and rehabilitation aspect, he says, adding that the government has, in principle, agreed to provide land for the airbase and a helipad. Since helicopters do not need much of a runway or taxi way, we will help them locate land and provide the necessary assistance.
Air Force bases, and more are being built or planned. Western Air Command is the largest in the country operating 16 airbases, from Punjab in the north to Uttar Pradesh in the east; Eastern Command operates 15 in eastern and north-eastern India; and Central Command seven in Madhya Pradesh and the states surrounding central India; the strategically crucial Southern Air Command, in line with Indias latest doctrine of protecting the vital shipping routes, operates nine bases in southern India and two in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; and South Western Air Command, the frontline of defence where Pakistan is concerned, operates 12 bases in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. India also operates the Farkhor air base in Tajikistan
Tehelka - India's Independent Weekly News Magazine
