3,000 people evacuated ahead of missile test in Orissa

Balasore (Orissa), Nov 12 (IANS) Over 3,000 people living near a defence base in Orissa's Balasore district were evacuated Wednesday ahead of a missile test in the area, an official said.

'About 3,010 people from five villages within two kilometres of the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur were evacuated in the morning,' District Collector A.C. Padhiary said.

Scientists plan to carry out the the first test-firing from land of the submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) K-15 from the Chandipur defence base, about 230 km from state capital Bhubaneswar.

The two-stage missile, which can carry a payload up to one tonne, has a range of 700 km. It had earlier undergone four tests from the underwater platform.

The K-15 missile has a length of around 11 metres, larger than the 8.5-metre-long Prithvi short-range ballistic missile but smaller than 15-metre-long Agni-1 ballistic missile.