Arunachal Pradesh: Indian Air Force To Operationalise India’s Eastern-Most Airstrip In Vijaynagar By February

Indian Air Force (IAF), after operationalising all six airports in Arunachal Pradesh, has shifted its focus to Vijaynagar, situated at the eastern tip of India, The Tribune has reported.

It plans to upgrade its landing facilities and make it operational by the end of February.

Vijaynagar (also known as Vijoynagar) is a remote Tehsil in Arunachal’s Changlang district. It is surrounded by Myanmar on three sides and the nearest road-head is at Miao, which is a four day trek for the locals. There is an old airstrip in the Vijaynagar valley but has not been used since 2016.

Maintaining the airstrip has been a challenge thanks to no road connectivity. All repair material, including road rollers, petrol, diesel and bitumen have to be ferried via helicopters.

Arunachal Pradesh, which shares 1,100 km border with China, has six landing strips. Earlier, a fighter jet landed in Passighat, a transport plane C-17 landed at Mechuka and a C-130 was operated from Tezu.

Last year, in April, these six airstrips, which are called advanced landing grounds (ALGs), were used for a massive IAF exercise.