Deepanboopathy at 16:40, 31 January 2026

2026-01-31T16:40:24Z

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{{Short description|Defunct Airports in Odisha, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox airport
| name = Amarda Road Airstrip
| nativename =
| image = Amarda Road Airstrip.jpg
| image-width =
| caption =
| IATA =
| ICAO =
| type = Defunct
| owner = [[Ministry of Defence (India)|Ministry of Defence]]<ref>{{cite web |title=List of Airstrip in the State maintained by State Government|url=https://ct.odisha.gov.in/sites/default/files/2020-06/Present-status-report-airstrips-ola.pdf|website=ct.odisha.gov.in|publisher=Commerce and Transport Department, Government of Odisha |access-date=14 January 2023}}</ref>
| operator = [[Indian Air Force]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aai.aero/sites/default/files/DETAILS-UNSERVED-AS-ON22NOV16.pdf|title=AAI Unserved Airports|website=aai.aero|publisher=Airports Authority of India}}</ref>
| city-served =
| location = Rasgovindpur, [[Odisha, India]]
| built = 1940
| used =
| elevation-f = 130
| elevation-m = 43
| coordinates = {{coord|21|48|18|N|087|02|49|E|type:airport|display=inline,title}}
| pushpin_map = India Odisha#India
| pushpin_label = Amarda Road Airstrip
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Odisha
| website =
| r1-number = 05/23
| r1-length-f = 6000
| r1-length-m = 1830
| r1-surface = [[Concrete]]
| r2-number = 17/35
| r2-length-f = 6670
| r2-length-m = 2032
| r2-surface = Concrete
| stat-year =
| stat1-header =
| stat1-data =
| stat2-header =
| stat2-data =
| footnotes =
}}

'''Amarda Road Airstrip''', also known as '''Rasgovindpur Airstrip''' is a former wartime airfield located near Rasgovindpur village in [[Mayurbhanj district]] of [[Odisha]], [[India]]. It was used by the [[Royal Indian Air Force]] during [[World War II]].

==History==

[[File:Wing Commander Frank Carey, Officer Commanding the Air Firing Training Unit, based at Amarda Road, India, standing by the nose of a Hawker Hurricane, April 1943. CI171.jpg|thumb|left|Wing Commander [[Frank Reginald Carey|Frank Carey]], Officer Commanding the Air Firing Training Unit, based at Amarda Road, India, standing by the nose of a [[Hawker Hurricane]], in April 1943.]]
The Amarda Road airstrip, as it was called in war terminology, spreads across an area of nearly 900 acres.<ref name="amarda"/> Built in the 1940s at a cost of Rs 3 crore, it was eventually abandoned after the war.<ref>{{cite news |title=WW-II era Amarda airstrip in Odisha cries for attention |url=https://www.asianage.com/india/all-india/290418/ww-ii-era-amarda-airstrip-in-odisha-cries-for-attention.html |website=The Asian Age |last1=Sahoo |first1=Akshaya Kumar |date=April 29, 2018}}</ref> It was probably named as Amarda Road Airfield because of the nearby Amarda Road railway station. The airfield was used by [[No. 136 Squadron RAF]],<ref>Jacobs, Vivian K. ''The Woodpecker Story''. Durham, UK: The Pentland Press Ltd., 1994. {{ISBN|1-85821-235-9}}. 1994, p. 156.</ref> [[No. 177 Squadron RAF]]<ref>{{cite book|year=1988|author=C.G.Jefford |isbn=1-85310-053-6|title=RAF Squadrons|publisher= UK Airlife Publishing }}</ref> and [[No. 607 Squadron RAF]]. The 'Air Fighting Training Unit', formed in February 1943, was also based here.

As an airfield, Amarda Road fell on the supply route for the [[National Revolutionary Army|Nationalist Armies]] of China in their fight against the Japanese. Aircraft of the RAF and the [[United States Army Air Forces]] (USAAF) would regularly fly from this space to [[China]] via [[Chabua]] (Dibrugarh), [[Jorhat]] and [[Vijaynagar, Changlang|Vijaynagar]] across the infamous hump route over Arunachal and East Tibet.

Amarda Road and other neighbouring airfields - [[Dhalbhumgarh]], [[Dudhkundi]], [[Salua]], [[Digri]], [[Salbani]] and [[Chakulia]] - formed a web of airfields created by the Allies to stop the impending [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] advance in the east. During the war, Amarda Road was, to put it simply, a battle hub. After the war was over, most airfields, including this one, fell into disuse. Today, only the [[Kalaikunda]] airstrip, which was declared an Air Force Station in 1954, exists.

==Present condition==
Eight decades after the base was built, the {{convert|11,000|ft|m}} concrete runway is still intact, though the buildings that once cluttered the edges are gone.

There are proposals to renovate the airstrip for future operations under [[UDAN]] scheme from 2022.<ref>{{cite news |title=Amarda airstrip revamp in 2022: Bishweswar Tudu |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2021/sep/09/amarda-airstrip-revamp-in-2022-bishweswar-tudu-2356310.html |website=The New Indian Express |date=September 9, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Rasgobindpur now under UDAN scheme |url=https://www.dailypioneer.com/2021/state-editions/rasgobindpur-now-under-udan-scheme.html |website=Daily Pioneer |date=June 20, 2021}}</ref> As of November 2022, the [[Government of India]] and the [[Ministry of Defence (India)|Ministry of Defence]] have cleared for the airstrip to be developed as a commercial airport by acquiring a land area of 160 acres, and developing it at a cost of ₹ 25 crores.<ref name="amarda">{{cite news|author1=Barik, Satyasundar|title=Decks cleared for development of World War II era airstrip into an airport in Odisha|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/decks-cleared-for-development-of-world-war-ii-era-airstrip-into-an-airport-in-odisha/article66172615.ece/|work=The Hindu|date=23 November 2022|access-date=26 November 2022|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author1=Bisoyi, Sujit|title=President Droupadi Murmu's home district to have airport, gets MoD nod|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/bhubaneswar/president-droupadi-murmus-home-dist-to-have-airport-gets-mod-nod-8283931/lite/|work=The Indian Express|date=23 November 2022|access-date=26 November 2022|language=en}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:The wide and straight long main air strip.jpg|Airstrip
File:The wide air strip.jpg|Airstrip
File:WP 20141111 001.jpg|Concrete runway
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Airports in Odisha}}
{{Airports in India}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Airports in Odisha|Amarda|Mayurbhanj]]
[[Category:Defunct airports in India|Amarda]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force stations of World War II in Asia|Amarda]]
[[Category:Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in British India|Amarda]]
[[Category:World War II sites in India]]
[[Category:1940s establishments in India]]
[[Category:Mayurbhanj district]]
[[Category:Military airbases established in 1942]]
[[Category:Military airbases closed in 1945]]
[[Category:Ministry of Defence (India)]]

Amarda Road Airstrip - Revision history

Deepanboopathy at 16:40, 31 January 2026