In the early 1980's, the Indian government began to search for a site to build a dedicated missile test range. Pending the completion of the new test site, DRDO decided to build an interim facility adjacent to the Proof Experimental Establishment, Chandipur, in Orissa's Balasore district. In 1986, the Indian government decided to build the National Test Range (NTR) at Baliapal in Orissa's Balasore district and announced plans for a range covering 160 square kilometers, necessitating the evacuation of nearly 100,000 villagers from 130 villages. The new range was expected to become operational by 1990. The decision to establish the range and relocate the population from that area led to a confrontation between the federal government and the local villagers who opposed the move. The villagers launched a movement to prevent the establishment of a missile test range in their district. During the course of the struggle, the government declared that the Chandipur site was the most ideal one for testing rockets and missiles; the government also claimed that the Baliapal site had been selected after a comprehensive national survey.

However, in 1995, the federal government gave up the idea of moving the test range from Chandipur to Baliapal. Instead, it moved the test site to a group of uninhabited islands (Wheeler's Islands) off Chandipur in the Bay of Bengal. The decision to relocate the test site to Wheeler Islands created another set of problems. Wheeler's islands are located close to Gahirmatha beach, the largest known rookeries of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles. The establishment of missile test sites close to the beach raised concerns among environmentalists that missile tests might adversely affect the nesting sites of the Olive Ridley turtles. In mid-1996, the DRDO deferred to some of these concerns and agreed to institute measures to minimize the environmental impact of missile tests in the area.

The Interim Test Range is now a dedicated missile test range for testing missiles up to a range of 5,000 km. The range is spread over a length of 17km along the Orissa seacoast where a number of tracking instruments have been deployed to cover the flight-path of test vehicles. These include Plessey surveillance radar, electro-optical tracking system (mobile and fixed), S-band tracking radar (KAMA-N) (mobile), C-band tracking radar (PCMC) (fixed), telemetry band (fixed and mobile), range computer, close-circuit television system, photo processing system, meteorological system, and range safety system. ITR also has three launch complexes to meet the launch requirements of short- and medium-range missiles and rockets. In August 1998, India's defense ministry announced that the test range would be upgraded to the level of a world-class facility. The new facilities added would include upgrades of in-house facilities for maintenance and repair. In addition, efforts would be made to develop a system for aiding safety decisions during launch.

Sources:
[1] Paul Routledge, "The Baliapal Movement," Terrains of Resistance: Nonviolent Social Movements and the Contestation of Place in India (Westport: Praeger Publishers, 1993), pp. 39-73;
[2] A.P.J. Abdul Kalam with Arun Tiwari, "Propitiation," in Wings of Fire: An Autobiography (Hyderabad: Universities Press [India] Limited, 1999), pp. 125-127;
[3] Dr. N.C. Birla and B.S. Murthy, eds., "Range Test Facilities," Indian Defence Technology: Missile Systems (1998: DRDO, Ministry of Defence, New Delhi), pp. 234, 247;
[4] Defence Research & Development Organisation, "Address Book," www.drdo.org;
[5] "Interim Test Range, Balasore, Orissa," Federation of American Scientists: Nuclear Forces Guide, www.fas.org;
[6] "India relocates missile launch site," Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 26 July 1995; in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, 26 July 1995, http://web.lexis-nexis.com;
[7] Rahul Bedi, "India hides in its shell over test range," Jane's Defence Weekly (Coulsdon, Surrey), 27 March 1996, Vol. 25, No. 13, p. 5; in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, 27 March 1996, http://web.lexis-nexis.com;
"Interim Test Range to be upgraded," Indian Express (Mumbai), 18 August 1998, www.expressindia.com.