To address the COMMUNICATION bottleneck particularly in air connectivity, Arunachal Pradesh Governor J P Rajkhowa approached the Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati for setting up minimum 3-4 airports to cover most of the districts in the state.
In a letter to the Union Minister last month, the Governor impressed upon him that Arunachal being the largest among the eight North-Eastern states with difficult mountainous terrains, poor road, rail and air connectivity but great tourism potential need more airports to overcome the communication bottleneck.
Rajkhowa in his letter said that Arunachal is a very important strategic frontier state having international borders with Bhutan, China and Myanmar, a Raj Bhawan communique informed.
The governor in the letter said that the state with 83,743 sq km of land area should have not one, but minimum of three to four airports to cover most of the districts.
He said that Assam, which has lower geographical area of about 79,000 sq km has presently 6 airports.
Requesting the Union Minister to consider setting up of additional airports in addition to the already sanctioned Green Field Airport for the state, the governor called for constituting a high-power expert site selection committee in consultation with the state government.
On the sanctioned Green Field Airport for the state, the Governor clarified that based on suggestions from many quarters regarding alleged malpractices in the land acquisition on behest of some powerful political leaders, he had suggested for a thorough scrutiny of all documents of the land owners covered under the acquisition process by CBI or and other central agency and meanwhile up-gradating adjacent Lilabari Airport in Assam, keeping in mind likely delay in constructing the Airport at Hollongi, for which all the clearances were reportedly not available.
Rajkhowa emphatically said that he had not recommended for scrapping of the Green Field airport for the state or for abandoning Hollongi site.
(Reopens CES10)
Expressing surprise and dismay on the selective
leakage of his letter to Prime Minister in the media to give a impression that he had recommended for scrapping of the only Green Field Airport Project for Arunachal Pradesh to benefit his home state of Assam through upgrading of the Lilabari Airport, the governor said that in order to dispel public apprehension on possible abandonment of the project, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Airport Authority of India must finalise all necessary steps on top priority basis for setting up the Airport at Hollongi or Karsingsa-Banderdewa or any other suitable site in Papum Pare district, based on techno-economic-social-environmental considerations.
He also suggested that a vigilance mechanism should be put in place to ensure that there is no abnormality in its process of project implementation.
Acknowledging the letter from the governor, the union Minister of Civil Aviation on November 19 last informed that the matter is being examined for appropriate action, the communique added.