SHIMLA: Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur’s dream Greenfield Airport at Nagchala in Mandi, his home district, got a fresh push today as a Joint Venture Agreement for development of the airport was signed today in New Delhi.
The agreement was signed in the presence of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya M. Scindia at New Delhi today.
The government did not divulge the details of the agreement. But it says the agreement "will paved way for development of airport in Mandi which is the dream project of Chief Minister".
Mandi Airport will Boost Tourism
Chief Minister said it will not only improve air connectivity to the state, but it will also boost tourism in Himachal Pradesh. The project when complete will generate employment opportunities to local youth, he said.
The airport will also enable wide bodied aircraft which also includes landing of international flights.
He said that the Greenfield Airport will be developed with a proposed runway of 3150 meters. For this 2840 Bighas of land has been identified. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has also conducted the Obstacle Limitation Surface (OLS) survey and Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) survey.
Jai Ram Thakur said that according to OLS and LIDAR survey reports, the airport at Mandi is feasible and suitable for round the year operations along with night landing and operation of AB-320 type of aircraft.
Land ATR-42-600 Flights in Shimla
Chief Minister also pleaded that the Ministry should enable landing of ATR 42-600 in Shimla airport. Besides this, he sought flight operations to Shimla -Kullu - Dharamshala under UDAN II as priority area routes.
Chief Minister further batted for extending Chandigarh-Dharamshala route to Chamba under UDAN II. He sought extension of Shimla-Rampur flight upto Kinnaur to cover the strategic Tribal belt that straddles border with the China.
During the occasion Union Minister assured of all possible support to the state. Chief Secretary Ram Subhag Singh gave valuable inputs during the discussion.
Present in the ceremony were also Chairman, AAI, Sanjeev Kumar, Secretary, Civil Aviation, Rajiv Bansal, Principal Secretary, Tourism and Civil Aviation Himachal Devesh Kumar.
Farmers Put Roadblock to Nagchala Airport
Despite his persistent efforts, Jai Ram Thakur has miles to go before he will land his dream project at Nagchala.
The Green airport faces red light on the Nagchala ground where local farmers are ready with their red flags opposing the project.
Chief Minister has been make consistent efforts to put the airport in the fast lane in his present tenure. But the government faces opposition from the left-supported Farmers Sangharsh samiti.
Jai Ram Thakur had posed query to CPIM Theog MLA Rakesh Singha in last Vidhan Sabha session that he should not put road block to the airport by flaring up the protest at Nagchala as “it is a big project that will ring in development and tourism in Himachal”.
Farmers, however, say that the Green-field airport should come up, but on the barren land. They have been demanding the shifting of the airport from Nagchala to Other Site, where the barren land is available aplenty. They have formed a Sangharsh Samiti and have vowed not to allow the airport at Nagchala.
“The airport will “rob them of their most fertile and irrigated land of thousands of bighas”, they claimed.
It is a big challenge to Jai Ram Thakur. The farmers' opposition to the project may delay the long land acquisition process. They may push the project into the long time- consuming legal hassles if the government fails to convince and win over the farmers whose land will be acquired for the project.
