During World War 2, many military airstrips were constructed by British-American forces for defence of India. Post independence such airstrips went into disrepair and were encroached upon. You can see large number of such airstrips in and around Bengal region due to threat of Japanese invasion in WW2.
However with the IAF ramping up capabilities many of them are being revived especially to function as emergency landing strips. The government is also interested in these strips for UDAN scheme as they don't have to acquire private land with time, cost and court case liabilities.
Some interesting things about these airstrips:
1) British-American influence on design. Compare the aircraft dispersal pattern/blast pen pattern with our usual airbases.
2) Almost all of them are with 2 cross runways.
Starting this thread to track the progress.
However with the IAF ramping up capabilities many of them are being revived especially to function as emergency landing strips. The government is also interested in these strips for UDAN scheme as they don't have to acquire private land with time, cost and court case liabilities.
Some interesting things about these airstrips:
1) British-American influence on design. Compare the aircraft dispersal pattern/blast pen pattern with our usual airbases.
2) Almost all of them are with 2 cross runways.
Starting this thread to track the progress.