South Mumbai gets helipad

Mumbai: The Indian Navy on Thursday commissioned INS Shikra, a full-fledged air station which would control aircraft operations in south Mumbai.
The station, in existence since 1964 under the name NAS Kunjali, served as a crucial operations base for rescue efforts made by NSG commandos during the 26/11 terror attack.
Any aircraft entering south Mumbai air space will require permission from ATC of this "master helipad''. Choppers like Sea Kings, Kamov-28s, Kamov-31s and Chetaks will be stationed at the base. "The fragile security environment in our neighbourhood requires the Navy to maintain a high state of preparedness to deal with any developing situation,'' chief of naval staff Sureesh Mehta said.
Mehta, who was in Mumbai for the first time after 26/11, harped on "tweaking'' organisational issues to enable co-ordination of various agencies for fool-proof security. He maintained that the Navy had conveyed all intelligence about terror activities to the government prior to 26/11 and said new procedures were being developed to check boats as well as their movement along the Gujarat-Mumbai coastline. "There are around 5,000 boats, registered and unregistered, operating along the coastline. Procedures to keep a check on them are being devised along with the customs department, the state fisheries department and the Coast Guard,'' he said. The station will help in keeping track of any movement in the air.
23/01/09 Chinmayi Shalya

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Jan 2009, New Jan 2009