Pasighat ALG civilian terminal set to be operational from Sept

The civilian terminal of the Advance Landing Ground at Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh is all set to be made operational from next month.
State civil aviation secretary Vinod P Kalve made the announcement after a joint inspection of all aspects of the civilian terminal at the ALG in East Siang district, including safety measures, security and other operational matters, an official communique said.
Kavle said that Chief Minister Pema Khandu and Chief Secretary Shakuntala D Gamlin held a series of meetings to make Pasighat ALG operational for commercial flights by September this year and he had been entrusted with the responsibility to take stock of the ground reality.

During the inspection, Kalve was accompanied by East Siang DC Tamiyo Tatak, SP Pranav Tayal, Civil Aviation director R Roniya, deputy director T Ratan and others.
During his visit, the secretary expressed satisfaction over the progress and gave specific instructions for certain modifications of the existing facilities including features that passengers and airlines require under UDAN and the regional connectivity scheme of the Centre.
The Pasighat ALG was inaugurated by Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on August 19 last year.

The ALG was taken over by the IAF in February 2010.
Following a MoU between Arunachal Pradesh government and Ministry of Defence in June 2009, the IAF had embarked on an ambitious reconstruction plan to upgrade eight ALGs, including infrastructure development at an overall outlay of nearly Rs 1,000 crore.

Defence Secretary G Mohan Kumar during a high-level review meeting with state Chief Minister Pema Khandu in April this year had said that the Defence Ministry had given its seal of approval for civilian use of the six ALGs in the state to promote tourism.