Government plans to use NH as runways for aircraft

Mumbai: Government is planning to use roads in the far-off areas of the country, mostly in the border areas, as runways for civilian and military aircraft, Union Road Minister Nitin Gadkari said. He also added “Along with Defence Ministry, we are thinking on a proposal. We are making our national highways of cement and concrete. We can use them as airports and are identifying sites. The vehicular traffic will be stopped when an aircraft will be landing and once it leaves, the vehicle traffic will resume. The traffic was also low in Arunachal Pradesh which can easily facilitate the flight movements as is being envisaged.”

He clarified that the plan was to use the highway network to handle both civilian and military aircraft movement. The discussions are being held with the Defence Ministry because many of these sites can be near the border areas.