In order to landing of aircrafts in Agartala airport during adverse weather condition, the former Chief Minister of Tripura and incumbent Rajya Sabha member Biplab Kumar Deb on Friday raised the demand of installation of modern and updated  Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the airport.

During the ongoing session of Parliament, MP Biplab Kumar Deb raised his demand on the floor of Rajya Sabha as recently many passenger flights were diverted from Agartala airport to other airports due to adverse weather conditions as flights were unable to land on the runway of the airport due to low visibility.

In the submission of his demand, Deb said that the MBB Airport in Agartala is under the Instrument Flight Rules and recently, the flight operation has suffered due to reinstallation of ILS in the airport.

In order to cater to the rising traffic at Agartala’s MBB Airport, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has commissioned instrument landing system (ILS) for its runway. The installation of ILS on the runway will enable the landing of aircraft in low visibility as well as for night landings, the authority added.

During landing of flights amidst adverse weather conditions, the ILS is required, but in absence of clearance of DGCA, the AAI till date is unable to activate the ILS in the airport. Though, the  trial run of newly installed ILS at Agartala airport has been successfully completed.

Deb also highlighted that in the ensuing winter and foggy season, the flight operations will continue from Agartala airport, if the ILS is activated at the earliest. He stressed on immediate approval from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

He also said that recently, the passengers, who are scheduled to land at Agartala airport, had suffered many difficulties after the flights were diverted to other airports due to bad weather conditions, which has destroyed valuable time and money of the passengers.

An Instrument Landing System (ILS) is a precision radio navigation system that provides short-range guidance to aircraft to allow them to approach a runway at night or in bad weather.

The Instrument Landing System employs two radio beams to provide pilots with vertical and horizontal guidance during the landing approach. The localiser (LOC) provides azimuth guidance, while the glidepath (GP) defines the correct vertical descent profile. The system expediently allows aircraft to approach until it is 200 feet (61 m) over the ground and is very helpful for pilots at airports like Agartala.

Deb also drew the attention of the Union Railway Minister for early completion of ongoing construction of railway tracks and over-bridge.

Deb also opposed the proposal of Dr Sivadasan, Left MP from Kerala over abolition of Governor post from all states of the country. He said that in the parliamentary democracy, a Governor always strengthens the relationship between states and centre.