BHUBANESWAR: An aircraft carrying Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was diverted from Lanjigarh to Jeypore due to bad weather conditions on Wednesday.
The Chief Minister was scheduled to board a helicopter to Rayagada after landing at Lanjigarh airstrip at about 11.15 am. He was supposed to inaugurate various projects and to address members of women self-help groups there.
Sources said the CM’s aircraft could not land at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district due to dense fog conditions and it was diverted to Jeypore.
Later, the Chief Minister flew to Rayagada in another helicopter after taking rest for a few minutes at Jeypore.
Rubbishing the claims that the aircraft made an emergency landing due to a technical snag, an official said the airplane was diverted due to tough weather. "The CM’s itinerary was rerouted and delayed due to the diversion. The Rayagada event was delayed by about one hour,” he added.
Later in the day, the Chief Minister is scheduled to address the Biju Yuva Bahini convention at Mukundaprasad in Khurda district.