Kishtwar, Kargil among 24 airports identified for second phase of RCS

JAMMU: Kishtwar and Kargil districts will soon join the list of civil airports in Jammu and Kashmir, as airstrips in both areas currently used by the Indian Air Force have been included among the 24 airports and helipads across the country identified by the centre government for the second phase of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS).
Under the second phase of RCS, which aims to provide air connectivity to the hinterland to provide an impetus to the economic growth of regional centres, including unconnected towns and cities, the government has decided to keep the focus on 'priority areas' which include Jammu & Kashmir, besides the North-East and other hilly regions of the country.
While the list of routes awarded in the first phase of the scheme, announced in March did not involve routes to Jammu & Kashmir, two airports have been selected in the second phase announced by government on Thursday, in a bid to step up air connectivity to remote and strategic locations.
Besides these two in Jammu and Kashmir, of the 24 airports and helipads identified by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, nine are in Arunachal Pradesh, five each in Assam and Manipur and one each in Meghalaya, Tripura and Sikkim.
A total of 88 unserved and underserved airports and helipads were involved in the initial round of RCS' second phase.
The window for air operators to bid for routes under the second phase of RCS started on August 24, four days before Indian and Chinese troops disengaged at Doklam to end a border standoff that lasted more than two months.
Several airports identified under the RCS are currently being used by the Indian Air Force. These include Daporijo, Yinghong, Ziro, Pasighat, Along, Tuting and Walong in Arunachal Pradesh, and Kishtwar and Kargil in Jammu & Kashmir. The aerodromes at Tezpur, Jorhat and Lilabari in Assam are also operated by the IAF, but will have separate civilian enclaves under the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The other airports are under the aegis of either the AAI, or respective state governments.
A senior official of the Ministry of Civil Aviation said that unserved airports, by their very nature, will require some upgradation of infrastructure such as operational runways, air traffic control, emergency systems such as fire and ambulance, approach roads, etc for airlines to be able to operate commercial flights.
AAI chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra said the infrastructure expansion being undertaken at these strategic locations is primarily being done with the objective of improving connectivity. He played down the "defence" angle to the air connectivity ramp-up.
"Lack of air connectivity is a huge problem in these places. At times of medical emergencies, it becomes next to impossible for support to reach there because airport infrastructure is not there. That is what we are trying to solve," Mohapatra said, adding that in times of war, the entire airspace of the country and airports are in any case under the control of defence forces.