A new passenger terminal at the airport is under construction at a cost of Rs 480 crore (File)
New Delhi:
The CISF is expected to take over security at Leh Airport, the country’s highest commercial airfield in the newly established Union territory of Ladakh, on Aug. 4, officials said.
A contingent of around 100 CISF personnel will provide round-the-clock armed security at the strategically important airport, located 3,256 meters above sea level, they said.
Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport, operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), will be the 64th civilian airport to be placed under the cover of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). He is currently guarded by local police.
Ladakh became a UT on October 31 last year after the central government revoked the special status granted to the former state of Jammu and Kashmir and branched off into UT.
The CISF, the 1.62 lakh strong paramilitary personnel designated as the national civil aviation security force, will take charge of security at Leh Airport after an official induction ceremony scheduled for August 4, said officials.
CISF Director General (CEO) Rajesh Ranjan and senior officials from IAA and UT Ladakh will be present at the event, they said.
The force has a special aviation security group (ASG) to provide counterterrorism cover at airports and it took over these passenger facilities in Srinagar and Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) in February and March respectively.
Air India, Vistara, GoAir and SpiceJet operate commercial passenger flights between Leh and Delhi.
A new passenger terminal at the airport is being built at a cost of Rs 480 crore and is expected to be completed by September next year.
The handover of the three strategically important and sensitive airports of Srinagar, Jammu and Leh to the CISF was speeded up after Jammu and Kashmiri policeman Davinder Singh was arrested in Srinagar in January while carrying three Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists.
