BERHAMPUR: Raising the demand for setting up an airport in the city a notch higher, the joint action committee (JAC) comprising several civil and social organisations of Ganjam district began a postcard campaign on Tuesday. The signed post cards will be addressed to the Chief Minister seeking action failing which the committee will resort to a bandh in Silk City.
The committee has been persistent in its demand for an airport in the city and has taken a slew of measures to draw attention of the government. President of Odisha Development Forum, Rama Prasad Tripathy said the postcards with signatures in support of the demand will be sent to the Chief Minister and if no action is taken soon, the committee will resort to a bandh in Silk City.
The Ganjam Bar Association (GBA), the oldest body of lawyers in the state, had in November last year, in a memorandum to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, stated that Berhampur has the required infrastructure for the establishment of an airport but nothing has been done in this regard. It had said the Chief Minister had assured people of the district that Berhampur deserves special focus of the government to transform it into a modern city. Still the two-decade old demand for an airport in the region remains unfulfilled.
The GBA, in an unanimous decision taken during a virtual meeting of its members, had urged the State government to send a proposal in this regard to the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation. Bar chairman Bhagaban Sahu said the Civil Aviation Ministry, in its letter dated April 29, 2020, had stated that “the government needs to work out modalities to expedite the process.”
The association had said Berhampur is situated in the middle of Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam, which have international airports and are located 185 and 283 km from the city respectively. As per an estimate around 32 per cent air passengers from the district use the Biju Patnaik International Airport and 21 per cent the one at Visakhapatnam.