An Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter made a trial landing at the airstrip at Sathram, near Vandiperiyar, in Idukki on Thursday.
According to officials, the trial landing was held to inspect the chances of using the airstrip for disaster management in Idukki district Earlier the Idukki district administration had submitted a letter to the National Cadet Corps (NCC) and the State government in this regard.
Based on this, an inspection and trial landing were held on Thursday.
‘Big success’
Officials said that the IAF helicopter from Sulur in Tamil Nadu had reached Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday from where it reached Idukki on Thursday.
NCC Commanding Officer group captain A.G. Sreenivasa Iyer said that the trial landing was a big success. He said that the IAF team had directed the NCC to complete some more work on the airstrip.
Officials said that the team would submit a detailed report to the NCC soon.
According to officials, last week the NCC officials submitted an application before the Kottayam Divisional Forest officer (DFO) demanding permission for approach road construction and removing embankment near the airstrip. According to NCC officials, once permission was received from the Forest department, the construction works of the airstrip would be completed soon.
In July 2022, a portion of the airstrip was washed away following a landslip caused by heavy rain. Around 100 m of the shoulder on the right side of the airstrip caved in and a deep crack developed on the airstrip. The caved in portion is yet to be reconstructed.
NCC officials said that the Public Works department would complete the works after getting permission from the Forest department.
Training for cadets
According to officials, 1,000 NCC air wing cadets can be given training in flying at the airstrip. The airstrip’s construction began on May 21, 2017, on a 12-acre plot allotted by the Revenue department. The total cost of the airstrip is nearly ₹13 crore.
Earlier, Idukki-based environmentalist M.N. Jayachandran moved the High Court alleging that the construction was being done on an environmentally fragile area and a decision on this is awaited.
