Jollygrant airport to be developed as internation airport

DAINIK NATION BUREAU

In a piece of good news for Uttarakhand, the  Jollygrant Airport, which is  seeing operation of 12 flights a day while ferrying around eight lakh passengers per year,  has been certified  as  one of cleanest airports of the country, clearing decks for its being developed as an international airport in the coming days.

This was disclosed during the meeting of the airfield environment management committee held at the secretariat in Dehradun on Monday. The meeting declared that the committee was contemplating to develop the airport as an international one, providing it with the facelift required for the transition.

The meeting apprised that the present runway size of 7021 feet which is an improvement from the earlier 4000 is  all set to expanded to 9,000 feet as per the master plan envisaged.  Aside from re-jigging the basic infrastructure, the going way number would be raised from the current four to eight.  This aside, Rs 348 crore   is being pegged to build a 30200 square meter building to facilitate the  passengers who would flock to the airport from across the world in the coming days.

To ensure that things move glitch free, the state’s chief secretary has instructed the officials concerned to transfer 40 acre land to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) immediately, the transfer process hanging fire for the past seven years.  PWD, revenue and forest department officials would ensure the long-delayed transfer of the land to AAI following joint inspection of the land, CS stressed.

An AAI official said that AAI has taken several precautionary measures to avoid harming the wild life abounding around. “To ensure this, we have made proper disposal of garbage and felled the tall trees standing in the vicinity of the airport aside from relocating   the mobile tower and banning the use of laser light during marriage or other celebrations. This aside, we have banned kite flying. Transport system would be revamped too in view of the airport becoming an international one. We are happy with the    chief secretary providing us with all kinds of assistance on the matter,” the AAI official added.