Trade union leader and
former president of Ganjam Bar Association Bhagaban Sahu has submitted a
comprehensive memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding development
of the Rangailunda Airstrip as a full-fledged
mini airport and its inclusion in the Centre’s proposal for setting up of over
100 mini airports in the country as announced recently.
The Prime Minister has
announced to set up such mini airports in small towns and cities, and as part
of this ambitious scheme, the PM has already laid the foundation-stone for
development of the airport at Kishangarh in Ajmer district of Rajasthan last
year, Sahu’s memorandum pointed out.
It may be recalled that
the airstrip at Rangailunda (Brahmapur) in Ganjam district is ideally located
between the Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam Airports and its adjoining lands have
been earmarked for its expansion since long, but without any progress which is
quite unfortunate, Sahu lamented.
This airstrip is located
for tourists at a picturesque destination only four km from the famous
Gopalpur-on-Sea, which attracts both foreign and domestic tourists for its
scenic beauty and serene atmosphere. Due to non-development of the airstrip
into a regular and full-fledged airport, overseas tourists who intend to visit
Gopalpur-on-Sea have to land at the Biju Patnaik International Airport,
Bhubaneswar and travel around 200 km all along by road to reach
Gopalpur-on-Sea, the memorandum pointed out.
Besides being a seaside
tourist destination, the potentiality of this airstrip is quite high as a band
of key organisations and industries like the Army Defence Military College,
Berhampur University, Indian Rare Earths Limited, Gopalpur Steel Plant of the
Tata group, Jayashree Chemicals, Gopalpur Port, Howrah-Chennai railway track, Hotel
Mayfair, the upcoming railway wagon building project and titanium dioxide plant
are located within a radius of 0-7 km linking NH-5 and NH-59 which cannot be
ignored, Sahu argued.
The Silk City of
Brahmapur with nearly six lakh population is located at a distance of only 30
km from Asia’s largest lagoon, brackish water Chilika lake and the city has
produced several thousand IT technocrats who are currently serving in top MNCs
in different metros in India as well as abroad, the memorandum further pointed out.
Besides, more than 100 up and down trains are passing through the railway
station of this city every day which justifies setting up of a full-fledged
mini airport at Rangailunda.
Development of an airport
at Rangailunda would accelerate economic activities and push the economic
growth of the region besides promoting tourism in the region, Sahu claimed.
Copies of the memorandum
have also been submitted to the Union Minister of Civil Aviation and State
Chief Minister. It is quite unfortunate that the elected representatives of
this region have failed to mount pressure on the Government to bat for a mini
airport at Rangailunda, Sahu lamented. Source: The Pioneer
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