CDS (I) 2020 General Knowledge · Question 99 of 120

Correct — B, Arunachal Pradesh. Vijaynagar lies in the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh, in the far south-east of the State near the Myanmar border, and its airstrip was built in 1962. For more than sixty years it was the settlement's only link with the rest of the country, because no motorable road reached it. The runway had been laid with pierced steel plate, which the humid climate wore out, and heavy aircraft stopped using it in 2016. It was resurfaced in asphalt to about 1,213 metres, and reopened in September 2019 — the reopening the paper refers to. An Advanced Landing Ground is precisely this kind of asset: a short forward airstrip near a sensitive frontier, kept usable for transport aircraft and helicopters that supply troops and isolated villages.

• (a)Jammu and Kashmir — The region does have well-known forward strips, including Daulat Beg Oldi in Ladakh, one of the highest airstrips in the world. But Vijaynagar is not among them, and after the reorganisation of 2019 Daulat Beg Oldi lies in the Union Territory of Ladakh rather than in Jammu and Kashmir.
• (c)Karnataka — Karnataka appears in this paper in a different air-related item — the Rustom-2 crash at the Chitradurga test range — which is probably why it is here. It has no Advanced Landing Ground, being far from any land frontier.
• (d)Himachal Pradesh — It has high-altitude airfields such as Kullu-Bhuntar and the Ladakh-facing approaches, but the Advanced Landing Ground programme of the last two decades has concentrated on Arunachal Pradesh, where Vijaynagar sits alongside Mechuka, Along, Pasighat, Walong, Tuting and Ziro.

An Advanced Landing Ground is a small airfield close to a frontier, usually with a short runway and minimal infrastructure, held ready so that transport aircraft and helicopters can operate near the border at short notice. Arunachal Pradesh carries a cluster of them, most laid out in the years around the 1962 conflict and revived from 2009 onward, because the State has a long boundary, difficult terrain and very poor road connectivity.

Two clues in the stem point the same way. 'Advanced Landing Ground' as a term is used in India almost entirely of the north-eastern and Ladakh frontier airstrips, and the word 'reopened' fits a Sixties-era strip brought back into use, which is exactly the Arunachal programme. Note the spelling in the paper — the settlement is written Vijaynagar here and appears as Vijoynagar in some sources; it is not connected with the Vijayanagara empire of the Deccan. The place is also unusual for its history: it was settled by retired Assam Rifles personnel and their families from the 1960s, deep inside the Namdapha country of Changlang district.

• Vijaynagar is in Changlang district, Arunachal Pradesh, close to the Myanmar border.
• Its airstrip was established in 1962 and was for over sixty years the settlement's only link to the outside, as no motorable road reached it.
• The original pierced steel plate runway deteriorated in the humid climate and heavy aircraft operations were suspended in 2016.
• The resurfaced asphalt runway, about 1,213 metres long, was reopened in September 2019.
• Other Advanced Landing Grounds in Arunachal Pradesh include Mechuka, Along, Pasighat, Walong, Tuting and Ziro.

• Reading 'Vijaynagar' as a Deccan place name and reaching for Karnataka.
• Assuming an Advanced Landing Ground must be in the western sector; the densest cluster is in Arunachal Pradesh.
• Confusing an Advanced Landing Ground with a full air base — it is a short forward strip with minimal permanent infrastructure.

As a place-to-State location item, or inside a current-affairs question on border infrastructure in the north-east.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Advanced Landing Grounds at Mechuka, Walong and Tuting are located in which one of the following States?

  • (a)Sikkim
  • (b)Nagaland
  • (c)Arunachal Pradesh
  • (d)Manipur

  Answer(c) Arunachal Pradesh — the State holds the densest cluster of Advanced Landing Grounds, most of them laid out around 1962 and revived from 2009.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Namdapha National Park and Tiger Reserve is located in which one of the following States?

  • (a)Assam
  • (b)Arunachal Pradesh
  • (c)Mizoram
  • (d)Meghalaya

  Answer(b) Arunachal Pradesh — it lies in Changlang district, the same district as Vijaynagar.