We at Kumily Calling are proud that the National Cadet Corps’ (NCC) first and only airstrip in the country is ready to receive small aircrafts for training of its air wing cadets.
A Virus SW 80 two seater light aircraft landed at the Satram airstrip, near Vandiperiyar in Idukki District on Thursday the 1st December 2022. The aircraft started the trial flight from the naval airport in Cochin around 9.30 a.m. and landed successfully on its third attempt at Sathram airstrip around 10.30 am. The same day.
The Aircraft was piloted by Commanding Officer A G Sreenivasan of the NCC 1st Kerala Air Squadron, Thiruvananthapuram and co-piloted by Captain Udaya Ravi of the NCC 3rd Kerala Air Squadron, Cochin.
The airstrip has been constructed by the State Public Works Department (PWD) and is 650 metres long .A hangar which can accommodate four light aircraft along with an accommodation facility for student pilots has been made at the local CSI High School building.
Peermade MLA Vazhoor Soman remarked that the day marked a new beginning for Idukki. Though the airstrip has been built to provide flight training to NCC cadets, Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine said it could also be utilised for tourism in future.
While the Politicians were celebrating the moment, local environmentalists said the flight landing has been conducted in violation of the Supreme Court order issued on 3rd June this year banning all development activities in the one-km buffer zone around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. The airstrip is situated about 660 metres away from the boundary of Periyar Tiger Reserve and authorities appear to have not obtained sanctions from the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
