PM lays foundation stone of greenfield airport, inaugurates Tezu airport
(Sourced from PTI)
PM Narendra Modi today laid the foundation stone for the construction of greenfield Airport at Hollongi near Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh capital) and inaugurated an upgraded and retrofitted Airport at Tezu in the state. Modi said this was probably for the first time that an airport was being inaugurated in a state while the foundation stone of another was being laid on the same day.
Inaugurating the Tezu airport in the Lohit district through remote, Modi said the airport will connect Guwahati, Jorhat, and Hollongi. He said fruit and flowers of the region can reach any market of the country in a few hours with the Tezu airport becoming functional at a cost of Rs. 125 crore. AP had been the only state in India without a full-fledged airport.
Terming tourism industry as a money spinner for the state, the prime minister said that with the coming up of the greenfield airport and rail network, tourism industry would flourish and many unemployed youth would now get better job opportunities.
Modi said flights under the UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme will start from Tezu airport. The greenfield airport at Hollongi will be a great help to the people of Itanagar as at present the nearest airport to Itanagar is at Lilabari in Assam, at a distance of 80 km. The airport at Hollongi will reduce the distance by a fourth.
In addition to providing better connectivity, the Hollongi airport will also unravel the tourism potential of the state. The airport will boost the economic growth of the region and will be strategically important to the nation. The airport will have various sustainability features like green-belt along approach road to act as noise barrier, rainwater harvesting, use of energy efficient equipment, officials said.
The ambitious greenfield airport project in the state has been pending for several years due to controversies over site selection. Initially, Karsingsa was selected as the site for the greenfield airport but due to some technicalities, the Directoroate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) had asked the state government to find some other site, officials said.
On the request of the state government, a Central joint inspection committee visited Itanagar to study the feasibility of the site during 2017 and recommended Hollongi for the greenfield airport. Modi also inaugurated Arunachal Pradesh's first dedicated TV channel, DD Arunprabha, at the Doordarshan Kendra (DDK) in Itanagar. The channel is equipped with a digital-satellite news-gathering unit to provide live coverage from remote areas.
