__NOTOC__ Dr. Abdul Kalam Island, formerly known as Wheeler Island, is an island off the coast of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, approximately east of the state capital

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...

. The island was originally named after English commandant Lieutenant

Hugh Wheeler Hugh Callingham Wheeler (19 March 1912 – 26 July 1987) was a British novelist, screenwriter, librettist, poet and translator. He resided in the United States from 1934 until his death and became a naturalized citizen in 1942. He had attended Lon ...

. On 4 September 2015, the island was renamed to honour the late Indian president, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. The Integrated Test Range missile testing facility is located on the island, and serves as the test facility for most of India's missiles such as the

Akash Akasha or Akash (Sanskrit ' ) means space or sky or æther in traditional Indian cosmology, depending on the religion. The term has also been adopted in Western occultism and spiritualism in the late 19th century. In many modern Indo-Aryan la ...

Agni Agni (English: , sa, अग्नि, translit=Agni) is a Sanskrit word meaning fire and connotes the Vedic fire deity of Hinduism. He is also the guardian deity of the southeast direction and is typically found in southeast corners of Hindu ...

, Astra, BrahMos,

Nirbhay Nirbhay (meaning ''Dauntless/Fearless'') is a long range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile designed and developed in India by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) which is under Defence Research and Development Organisation (DR ...

, Prahaar,

Prithvi Prithvi or Prithvi Mata (Sanskrit: पृथ्वी, ', also पृथिवी, ', "the Vast One") is the Sanskrit name for the earth, as well as the name of a devi (goddess) in Hinduism and some branches of Buddhism. In the Vedas, her cons ...

, Shaurya Missile,

Advanced Air Defence The Indian Ballistic Missile Defence Program is an initiative to develop and deploy a multi-layered ballistic missile defence system to protect India from ballistic missile attacks. It was launched in 2000 after Kargil War by the Atal Bihari Vaj ...

Prithvi Air Defence The Indian Ballistic Missile Defence Program is an initiative to develop and deploy a multi-layered ballistic missile defence system to protect India from ballistic missile attacks. It was launched in 2000 after Kargil War by the Atal Bihari Vaj ...

, and ASAT missiles.

Geography

Abdul Kalam Island is one among a group of five islands located in the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line betwee ...

, approximately off the eastern coast of India, and about south of Chandipur in Balasore district, Odisha. The island is about in length and in area. The nearest port is

Dhamra Port The Dhamra Port is a port in Bhadrak district, Odisha, India, on the shore of the Bay of Bengal about seven kilometres from the old port of Dhamra. The agreement to develop the port was signed in April 1998. The Dhamra Port Company Limited (DP ...

. This island belongs to

Bhadrak district Bhadrak is a district of Odisha state in eastern India. Bhadrak city is the headquarters and the largest city of the district. Origin of name The district is named after goddess Bhadrakali whose temple is situated in Agarpada which is 8 ...

Integrated Test Range

The Integrated Test Range (ITR) is a missile testing facility composed of two complexes - Launch Complex-IV (LC-IV) located on Abdul Kalam Island and Launch Complex-III (LC-III) located at Chandipur. The

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

began searching for a suitable location to construct a dedicated military missile test range and begin development of the

series of missiles in the early 1980s. The

Defence Research and Development Organisation The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) (IAST: ''Raksā Anūsandhān Evam Vikās Sangaṭhan'') is the premier agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in Ministry of Defence of the Government of India, ...

(DRDO) constructed an interim facility adjacent to the Proof and Experimental Establishment (PXE) at Chandipur. In 1986, the Union Government announced plans to construct a National Test Range at Baliapal in Balasore district, the same district as Chandipur. This would have required the government to move 130,000 people out of 130 villages located in the area.

Agni-I Agni-I (Agni ''"Fire"'') is a medium-range ballistic missile that was developed by DRDO of India in the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program. It is a single-stage missile that was developed after the Kargil War to fill the gap between th ...

was first tested at Launch Complex-III in Chandipur on 22 May 1989. In 1995, the Government abandoned the plan to move the test range from Chandipur to Baliapal, and instead built a new test site known as Launch Complex-IV at Abdul Kalam Island. Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam was appointed as the first director of the Integrated Test Range in 1982. Following the successful demonstration of the

missile in October 1993, the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

requested the DRDO to conduct a confirmatory test on a land range to validate

circular error probability In the military science of ballistics, circular error probable (CEP) (also circular error probability or circle of equal probability) is a measure of a weapon system's precision. It is defined as the radius of a circle, centered on the mean, w ...

. The Army was not convinced that the missile met the specified 150 meters accuracy, and wanted it fired on land to clearly view its impact point. The DRDO was unable to conduct the test at its desert range in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

because of concerns about range safety and geopolitical issues, and ruled out the

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India consisting of 572 islands, of which 37 are inhabited, at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The territory is about north of Aceh in Indonesia and separated f ...

because they were far from the mainland. The agency decided to seek an uninhabited island off India's east coast to resolve the issue. The

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates si ...

supplied DRDO with a hydrographic map on which Kalam spotted three small islands off Dhamra's coast, which were marked on the map as Long Wheeler, Coconut Wheeler and Small Wheeler. Kalam sent scientists Dr V. K. Saraswat and Dr S.K. Salwan to locate the islands. The team hired a boat from Dhamra for , and armed with a directional

compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself wit ...

, set off to locate the islands. However, they became lost and were unable to find the island until they came across some fishing vessels. The fishermen stated that they had not heard of Wheeler Island but provided directions to a nearby island they referred to as "Chandrachood", which they thought could be Wheeler Island. After Saraswat and Salwan reached "Chandrachood island", they confirmed that it was the same as Small Wheeler island on the map, and that it had the appropriate dimensions to host a missile testing facility. The team had to remain overnight on the island surviving only on bananas. In '' Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India'' (2002), Kalam wrote, "to their surprise they araswat and Salwanfound a Bangladeshi flag flying atop a tree, as the island may have been frequented by fishermen from the neighbouring country. My friends quickly removed the flag". Kalam received clearance from then Defence Minister (and

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

) P. V. Narasimha Rao to acquire the island, and wrote a letter to then Odisha Chief Minister

Biju Patnaik Bijayananda Patnaik (5 March 1916 – 17 April 1997) was an Indian politician, aviator and businessman. As politician, he served twice as the Chief Minister of the State of Odisha. Early life His parents lived in Bellaguntha, Ganjam dist ...

requesting the use of the islands. The DRDO had received indications that there were several reasons why the Chief Minister's Office would not be willing to allocate the island. Kalam received a meeting with Patnaik ten days after his request. According to Kalam, "When we reached his office, the file was in front of him. Chief Minister Biju Patnaik ''ji'' said, Kalam, I have decided to give all the five islands at no cost to you RDO but I will sign the file of approval only when you give me a promise. Chief Minister held my hand and said, I have an invitation to visit China. I will visit only when you promise that you will make a missile that will reach China. I said, Chief Minister Sir, definitely, we will work for it. I immediately informed our Defence Minister. Chief Minister signed the file and I got the island, particularly the Small Wheeler island." The Odisha government leased the islands to DRDO for 99 years. Kalam referred to the island as his "Theatre of Action". The first missile test conducted on Abdul Kalam Island was the successful test of the Prithvi missile on 30 November 1993. All three armed forces services chiefs witnessed the event. Dr. S.K. Salwan stated that "the entire Island was on fire after the strike, which had hit bullseye". The missile test had an accuracy of 27 meters, which was far more accurate than the Army's required 150 meters. A granite memorial called Prithvi Point stands at the location of the original impact point of the test. Wheeler Island was uninhabited when it was allocated to the DRDO. Since the construction of the Integrated Test Range, entry to Abdul Kalam Island is restricted for the general public, and only DRDO personnel and Defence Ministry officials are permitted to travel to the island. Some journalists have also visited the island. The island is largely empty for most of the year and manned only by security staff, but may host thousands of scientists, technicians and other staff during missile tests. The test facility includes a launch pad, missile assembly/checkout buildings, and several administrative, and support buildings. The facility is only accessible by ship, as there is no airport or bridge connecting the island to the mainland. It does have a small helipad, but missile airframes and all supplies, construction materials and heavy equipment arrive by ship. Abdul Kalam Island also has a 2.3 kilometer long railway line which connects the missile assembly buildings and is used to carry missile airframes from the pier to the launch pad. The island also has residential and other facilities for DRDO scientists and staff.

Biodiversity

Abdul Kalam Island is located close to the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary, the world's largest

rookery A rookery is a colony of breeding animals, generally gregarious birds. Coming from the nesting habits of rooks, the term is used for corvids and the breeding grounds of colony-forming seabirds, marine mammals ( true seals and sea lions), and ...

of the endangered

olive ridley sea turtle The olive ridley sea turtle (''Lepidochelys olivacea''), also known commonly as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Cheloniidae. The species is the second-smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in ...

. Abdul Kalam Island's sandy beaches are a favoured nesting location for the turtles. The bright lights installed at the missile testing facility on the island caused some baby turtles to get lost as they were attracted towards the lights. Many baby turtles would fail to find their way to sea, and some died as a result. To protect the turtles, all lights at the facility are dimmed or masked during nesting season, and missile testing is restrained during the turtles' nesting and breeding season. The DRDO stated that around 150,000 olive ridley turtles had laid eggs on Abdul Kalam Island's beaches in February-March 2013 and that the number of turtles was growing. In May 2013, increasing concern has been drawn to the change of the island's

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sc ...

, owing to sand erosion. Since the island is technically a shoal, seawater frequently causes sand-shifting. The DRDO sought the assistance of geological experts from

National Institute of Ocean Technology The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) was established in November 1993 as an autonomous society under the Ministry of Earth Sciences in India. NIOT is managed by a Governing Council and is headed by a director. The institute is bas ...

to monitor the situation.

Gallery

File:Agni-IV.jpg, DRDO conducting the

Agni-IV Agni-IV ("Fire") is the fourth in the Agni series of missiles which was earlier known as ''Agni II prime''. It has been developed by India's DRDO and displayed a number of new technologies and significant improvement in missile technology. T ...

demonstration on Dr Abdul Kalam Island File:AAD Launch Crop.jpg, Advanced Air Defence Launch from Integrated Test Range (ITR), Dr Abdul Kalam Island File:Akash SAM.jpg, Akash Missile Launch from Integrated Test Range (ITR), Dr Abdul Kalam Island

References

External links

Wheeler Island Missile Facility
at Globalsecurity.org {{Odisha

Island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...