Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on September 12 virtually laid the foundation stone for Nyoma airfield in Eastern Ladakh very close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and also inaugurated the crucial Nechiphu tunnel on the axis to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. In all he inaugurated 90 infrastructure projects built by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) at a cost of over ₹2,900 crore, across 11 States and Union Territories which include two revamped airfields, Bagdogra and Barrackpore, in West Bengal, two helipads, 22 roads and 63 bridges.
Of these 90 projects, 36 are in Arunachal Pradesh; 26 in Ladakh; 11 in Jammu & Kashmir; five in Mizoram; three in Himachal Pradesh; two each in Sikkim, Uttarakhand and West Bengal and one each in Nagaland, Rajasthan and Andaman & Nicobar Islands, a Defence Ministry statement said.
“The Nyoma airfield, to be developed at a cost of approx. ₹200 crore, will boost air infrastructure in Ladakh and augment the IAF’s capability along the Northern border. The Defence Minister exuded confidence that the airfield, which will be one of the world’s highest, would prove to be a game-changer for the Armed Forces,” the statement said. Once completed, in about two years, the runway will be able to accommodate all fighter jets in the IAF’s inventory.
