New Delhi: Amid soaring tension between Asian giants India and China, infrastructure building and its upgrade is a sensitive issue in the cold barren mountainous region of Ladakh, an effort that India delayed for long.
Now along with rapid road construction activity right up to Daulat Beg Oldie near the Karakorum Pass—which has been met with open hostility by the Chinese across the border—36 new helipads are coming up in far-flung areas in the sensitive divisions of Leh and Kargil in Ladakh, in addition to the older ones including one near the Finger 4 area on the north bank of the Pangong Tso lake.
While 19 are in Leh, 17 are in Kargil, the helipads are expected to be ready in about four months.
But these are not the usual helipads. While they will primarily cater to civilian uses including enhancing connectivity, ferrying tourists, for use in medical emergencies, they will have facilities that can be put to use by military helicopters in times of exigencies.
According to a source familiar with the effort, these helipads will be well-laid stations that will come equipped with refueling facilities, passenger frisking counters, waiting areas, security hold areas, etc.
“Each of these helipads will have minimum space to at least park two Mi-17 helicopters,” said a serving official who is familiar with helicopter operations in the area.
The Russian-made Mi 17 has a wing span of at least 21 metres and can carry up to 30 soldiers.
“Helicopters can just about land anywhere but in the high-altitude and mountainous terrain in Ladakh, it can be a challenging task. That is why well-equipped helipads connecting remote and inaccessible regions of Ladakh are the need of the hour,” said the official.
And in winter months, they will become veritable points to push in supplies to the ground forces that are part of the mammoth mobilization effort undertaken in ‘mirror deployment’ to China’s mobilsation.