BHUBANESWAR: In a fitting tribute to former President APJ Abdul Kalam - also known as the Missile Man of India - the Odisha government on Friday announced the renaming of Wheeler Island - one of the country's most advanced missile testing ranges - as Abdul Kalam Island. The development came a day after the New Delhi Municipal authority renamed Aurangzeb Road in New Delhi as APJ Abdul Kalam Road.
Wheeler Island, which is located approximately 10km off the Odisha coast in the Bay of Bengal, is about 2km in length with an area of 390 acres. The island was previously named after an English commandant, Lieutenant Wheeler.
The renaming of the island is a tribute to the scientific spirit of Kalam and his association with Odisha and the island. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik, while announcing the renaming of the island, said Kalam had worked at the Defence Research and Development Organization, Balasore, for many years. "It was Biju babu (Biju Patnaik), who had allotted the historic Wheeler Island to the Ministry of Defence on the request of Dr Kalam in 1993," Naveen added.
Kalam had once described Wheeler Island as his "theatre of action". The small island had also inspired the Missile Man of India to write many poems for his book 'My Journey'. The People's President had visited the island in a number of times as chief of DRDO, as the President, and even after completion of his tenure.
"The island assumes great significance in view of its strategic location. It has been used as the launching pad for India's missile defence system," he added. The missiles that were testfired from Wheeler Island include Akash, Agni, Astra, BrahMos, Nirbhay, Prahaar, Prithvi, Shaurya and Advanced Air Defence, and Prithvi Air Defence.
In 1982 Kalam was in fact the first director of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) here, initially called Interim Test Range. The intermediate range ballistic missile Agni, with a strike range more than 1,000 km, was the first India-made weapon to be testfired from the ITR on May 22, 1989.
Kalam was the man who had located the missile launch facility at Wheeler Island, one of a cluster of five islands, about 15 nautical miles away from the fishing harbour of Dhamra in Bhadrak district. The test facility consists of a launch pad, missile assembly, checkout buildings and several administrative and support buildings.
The Wheeler Island region is also home to famous Olive Ridley turtles. It was Kalam who was ensured that the lights on the island were masked during the nesting season of the Olive Ridley turtles.
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