Three spots on Ring Road can double up as auxiliary airstrips

PUNE: The proposed 128km Ring Road of the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority could double up as an auxiliary airstrip.

The Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) commissioner, Kiran Gitte, said the proposal to develop airstrips on the Ring Road was in the clearance stage. Three sites on the road could be considered for airstrips.
With the government encouraging availability of new built highways as auxiliary airfields, the Ring Road, too, could be designed accordingly.The ministry of road transport and highways is working on collaborating with the ministry of defence for the ambitious project.
A PMRDA official said, “The spots for the airstrips would be decided after completing 80% of the land acquisition for the Ring Road. The acquisition should be over by September. Thereafter, we will propose the three sites. The ministry of defence has to clear it.”
He added that PMRDA would fund the airstrips since they would be on the Ring Road.
The traffic would be stopped on the road before a plane takes off or lands. The same system is followed at Gibraltar airport. For about 10 minutes, vehicular movement comes to a standstill there to allow a flight to depart and arrive.
Civil aviation expert Dhairyasheel Vandekar told TOI that the proposal to have airstrips on the Ring Road was futuristic and feasible. “The officials should ensure that the road quality is good so that it can be used as an airstrip and that there are no curves at the spots selected,” he said.
Air Marshal Bhushan Gokhale (retired) said it was a welcome move as it had been tested for some highways in the north. “The road construction would improve in such cases as these roads would have to take on such momentum. Though the Ring Road would be circular, there would be stretches that could be converted into auxiliary airstrips.”
With the government keen on increasing the road and air connectivity to remote areas, several state highways are being turned into auxiliary airfields. According to a National Highways Authority of India official, proposals have been put up to develop highway stretches that can double up as airstrips. A committee had planned for construction of such highways in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and the states in the Northeast.