Water Aerodrome in Nagarjunsagar in Telangana: Ministry of civil aviation

HYDERABAD: Ministry of civil aviation has identified Nagarjuna Sagar irrigation project located in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh as one of the 10 locations for setting up water aerodromes as part of phase 3 of UDAN a regional airport development Scheme. Minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha on Wednesday informed Rajya Sabha that based on a pre-feasibility study carried out by a multi-disciplinary team of Airports Authority of India included Nagarjunsagar along with nine other sites for Water Aerodrome.
The ministry will call for bids for the development of Water Aerodrome under 3rd round of Regional Connectivity Scheme.Amphibious plans will land and take off at the water aerodrome. Other sites include Statute of Unity at Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat, Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad and two different places in Gujarat and two in Assam, two in Maharashtra and one in Uttarakhand.
An airstrip already exists in Nagarjunsagar on Guntur side from 1955 during dam construction. It is now unused and efforts to revive it was on papers for years. AP government wanted to develop the area for tourism purpose, but it is yet to fructify. Several Buddhist sites which attract international tourists are located near Nagarjunakonda. Central government have now chosen to set up a water aerodrome instead of reviving the airstrip. Water Aerodrome operations shall obtain clearances from Ministry of Defence, Home Affairs, Forest and Environment, Shipping, Irrigation department and local Revenue authority. Night operations will not be allowed in Water Aerodromes. AP government has sent proposals for reviving the airstrip which is pending with the centre.
Defence historian K S Nair told TOI, ”British during world war in the 1940s built around 200 airstrips in a year. After independence, the government stopped using these airstrips. Nagarjunsagar is not part of British airstrip it was built later. As the economy is growing, there was a proposal to revive at least 80 of these airstrips, but it didn’t take off. Historically there are water aerodromes in India. The HAL Old Bengaluru airport is originally in Bellandur Lake. Seaplanes used to land there. Karachi in British India was one such water aerodrome where seaplanes landed and took off. Madras Red Hills Lake had one such seaplane facility,”
Telangana Engineer –in-Chief Ch Muralidhar told TOI, ”From Telangana government side we have no information on the proposal of water aerodrome in Nagarjuna Sagar,”
Nagarjunasagar Dam construction started in 1956 and completed in 1967. It is It the largest and highest masonry dam in the world. The total length of Dam is 15956 feet (4863 mts), with a Full Storage Capacity of 408.24 TMC and Live Storage of 202.47 TMC and the water spread area of the Dam is 285 Sq. Km.
What is Water Aerodrome
• Water Aerodrome is a defined area on land or water including floating platforms, buildings installations and equipment intended to be used either wholly or in part for the arrival, departure and movement of aircraft.
• A water aerodrome consists of “Water runway or Channel” a rectangular area in water intended for the landing and take-off run of aircraft along its length.
• It will have a Dock’. A floating platform extending from the shore, on water and supported by pillars to hold in position, intended for loading or unloading passengers, cargo, fueling or parking.
• ‘Amphibian plane’ an amphibious aircraft or amphibian is an aircraft that can take off and land on both land and water.