The Hindu : Sport / Shooting : Lake Line Range: a state-of-the-art facility

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Wednesday, Sep 05, 2007
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Sport - Shooting

Lake Line Range: a state-of-the-art facility

A. Joseph Antony

HYDERABAD: It could well be the mother of all shooting competitions. Enjoying pride of place and prestige for the forthcoming Military World Games (MWG) will be the 300 metre championships, which will pit marksmen not only against each other but against the elements as well.

Conseil International Du Sport Militaire (CISM) rules stipulate that once a competition commences, it will continue, come rain or shine. If light fails during the day, the floodlights will come on, says Col. A.S.N. Rao, venue manager o f the Lake Line Range, which will host this event. Set in verdant surroundings, the wind will be another factor to contend with.

The assembled crackshots will be given about an hour’s time with their sighting shots to get familiar with wind speeds and patterns and make their corrections accordingly, says Major Dushyant Jolly.

Swiss-made electronic self-healing targets that need changing only after halting 2000 rounds are fitted with sensory magnetic strips that will relay scores to Sius Ascor machines and monitors instantly. For the 44 targets, divided into 20 and 24 across the Charlie and Delta ranges (Firing bays 1 and 2), there will be five command desks to compile the scores, says Major Rahul Tyagi.

Three complexes

Broadly, the Lake Line range has been divided into the reception, armoury and dope room complexes. The reception area comprises a cafeteria, restrooms and galleries that can seat about 200 spectators.

The armoury complex will have a guard room, an equipment control room to enforce conformity to specifications. A team of experts from the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU), stationed at the Military Headquarters of War (MHOW), will assist with repairs to the sophisticated weaponry.

The equipment at hand, all of it UPS-backed, is quite impressive too. Each competitor will have a cross shot sensor that nullifies scores of stray shots and a cross talk separator

The targets are backed up by walls of used tyres, finely sieved sand bunkers and forest cover forming the danger zone, extending to about 4 km, so that no stray bullet causes harm.

The range, situated on the banks of the Kapra Cheruvu (lake) derives its name from a British army settlement of barracks dating back to the late 18th century, says Captain Nita Banik.

But for construction at the firing end, the landscape has largely retained its natural feel.

Little wonder then that the visitor’s book entry by Lt. Gen. Ranbir Chhabra, Chief of Staff, Southern Command and Director General, Operations and Administration, MWG, recorded was succinct.

“An outstanding facility”, he wrote.

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