In order to fire missiles for the safety of the nation, Kalam spent a lot of time in the Odisha districts of Bhadrak and Balasore.
Former President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was born on 15th October 1931. He is known as the ‘Missile Man of India’. The country is paying rich tributes to Kalam on his 91st birth anniversary today.
Odisha Connection of Kalam
In order to fire missiles for the safety of the nation, Kalam spent a lot of time in the Odisha districts of Bhadrak and Balasore.
One of the world’s most technologically advanced missile testing facilities is on Wheeler Island, which is about 10 km off the coast of Odisha. On September 4, 2015, the Odisha government renamed the island in the Bhadrak district after the former President as a tribute to the Missile Man.
On Kalam’s request for missile testing in 1993, Wheeler Island was given to the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) during the administration of the then-chief minister Biju Patnaik.
From Wheeler Island, missiles such as the Akash, Agni, Astra, BrahMos, Nirbhay, Prahaar, Prithvi, Shaurya, Advanced Air Defence, and Prithvi Air Defence were fired. Kalam also spent a considerable amount of time as a missile scientist at the DRDO facility in Balasore.
Safeguarding olive ridley turtles
Kalam had made a significant contribution to Odisha’s eco-conservation effort, which was essential to the survival of the critically endangered Olive Ridley turtles. This was well before he held the nation’s top position.
The bright lights on the nearby Wheeler Island missile testing facility were distracting the Olive Ridley turtles, which have their largest rookery in the world on the Gahrimatha beach in Odisha’s Kendrapara district. As the head of DRDO, Dr. Kalam made sure that these lights were covered during the nesting season of the environmentally sensitive marine creatures.
Prasanta Patnaik