AFOVA New Letter 2 of Year 2021

Section 7 – Panorama CV 2 No. 02 / 2021 Page 296 of 332 was involved at all stages of the progress after the sanction. The foundation stone was laid by then PM Rajiv Gandhi and it was identified as a priority project. The Project Director Commodore Vijay Gopal who has since settled down in Arakkonam did a splendid job in sorting out the land acquisition process and also being part of the local team that worked relentlessly with the MES for commencing works. This was also the first project where arboriculture project worth more than a crore was sanctioned; first time that the MES went unconventional for houses. Piped water had to be brought from the Palar river bed some 70 kilometers and the entire electrification was underground with no overhead cables. While serving in NHQ and involved in all the briefings related to Rajali which were conducted regularly at NHQ, little did I know that I would one day be selected to be the Commissioning Commanding Officer. All the briefing, interaction with the top brass in Delhi and the firsthand knowledge came extremely handy on being posted as the CO Desig. When I reported in July 1991 some nine months before the commissioning, work was going on in full swing and there was so much to be done. There were many hiccups due to the failure by contractors and litigation. There were also issues of non-sanction of man power and then Chief of Naval Staff had even threatened to close down the Air Station if the sanctions were not given. Finally, a sanction of some 540 personnel was accorded and we had started working on infusing life in to the biggest NAS with many firsts to its credit. The biggest hurdle was the non-completion of the full runway due to the litigation process. The Runway length was only 3200 meters where as another 1000 meters plus, aprons, shoulders and taxi links were yet to be completed. The Border Roads Organisation was involved and took over the balance work on the Runway and this went on well after the commissioning. In a first for a shore station, Harbour Acceptance Trials (HATS) were undertaken for BEL communication and navigation equipment. The large number of labourers employed by many contractors was all living with in the perimeter of the air station and posed challenges in managing security. The surrounding villages were notorious for encroaching in to the territory and stealing various items from the station. The completion of the perimeter road and regular patrols ensured that this was controlled. On occasions, the DSC sentries were asked to fire in the air to install fear amongst those mischief mongers who scaled the walls and made good with many items of contractors. The PMB met every month at Rajali and took key decisions including the date for the commissioning and carried out onsiteinspection. 11 th March 1992 it was the D day.