A forward airbase for housing an ALH-MKIII helicopter is soon to come up at Frasergunj in South 24 Parganas which is expected to give an operational edge to the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) during the search and rescue (SAR) operations in the Bay of Bengal. The Kolkata-based North-East (NE) Command of the force is in talks with West Bengal government for approx. nine acres of land for the purpose.

The ICG’s NE Command requires choppers for operations on the North–Eastern seaboard of India. At present, the Command has no rotarywing aircraft but only the fixed-wing Dorniers which are mostly used in surveillance and reconnaissance operations confirmed ICG sources. NE Command is due to receive two Advanced Light Helicopters (ALHs) from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Named ‘Dhruv’, these choppers were supposed to arrive by July 2020 but got delayed due to the Covid-19. They are expected to be inducted by March, this year.

The ICG believes these indigenously built twin-engine helicopters will strengthen its operations over the North Bay of Bengal. A senior official pointed out both ALHs were supposed to be based out of Bhubaneshwar airport, initially, but ICG now feels having at least one helicopter, on a rotational basis, at a forward airbase in Frasergunj-closer to the Bay of Bengal- will save time rather than having to fly it in from Bhubaneshwar. The objective is “quick response”. Sources indicated that talks with the state government for land, is in the right track.

Commenting on the need of a rotary-wing aircraft, an ICG officer, on conditions of anonymity, said, “The Dorniers, being a fixed-wing aircraft, has its operational limits. It can conduct surveillance or reconnaissance and pass on the report. It is also not always feasible to quickly dispatch a ship but the ALH multi-role helicopters can reach faster than a ship and can easily descend and pull up, unlike the Dorniers during casualty evacuation from the sea. It can carry more troops and function as airambulances.”

The Statesman had earlier reported that a maritime rescue sub-centre is also being set up at Frasergunj. ICG sources confirmed it will come up within the same nine acres of land. The ICG’s NE Command has forward operating bases for amphibious hovercrafts at Haldia and Frasergunj while two of its Dornier aircraft are based out of the Kolkata airport.