Rajnath, Gadkari to inaugurate landing strip in Rajasthan's Barmer

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister for Road Transport and Highways will inaugurate Emergency Landing Field (ELF) and witness aircraft operations on National Highway 925 on September 9 at Gandhav Bhakasar Section (NH-925) South of Barmer in Rajasthan.

New Delhi:Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate Emergency Landing Field (ELF) and witness aircraft operations on National Highway 925 on September 9 at Gandhav Bhakasar Section (NH-925) South of Barmer in Rajasthan. It is for the first time that NH will be used for emergency landing of aircraft of Indian Armed Forces, as per a press release.

The landing strip will be able to facilitate landing of all types of aircrafts of IAF. The National Highways Authority of India developed a three kilometres section of Satta-Gandhav stretch of NH-925A as Emergency Landing Facility (ELF) for IAF. It is part of newly developed two lane paved shoulder of Gagariya-Bakhasar and Satta-Gandhav section with total length of 196.97 kilometre. It costed Rs 765.52 Crores under Bharatmala Pariyojana.

Connectivity between villages in Barmer and Jalore districts located on international border is expected to improve with this project. As the stretch is located in the western border area, it will enable the Indian Army's vigilance and strengthen country's basic infrastructure, as per press release.

Three helipads have also been constructed in Kundanpura, Singhania and Bakhasar villages bolstering security network on the western international border of the country.

The construction of ELF commenced in July 2019 and it was completed in January 2021, a span of 19 months. ELF will be used for road traffic in normal times, while during IAF's operations, service road will be utilized for traffic.