Dhenkanal: The training of newly recruited pilots from the newly renovated Birasal airstrip under the tribal-dominated Kankadahada block in this district has been pushed into uncertainty, even as the airstrip received a conditional no-objection certificate from the state government, a report said.
The state government issued the NOC to the Government Aviation Training Institute (GATI) in Bhubaneswar June 19. However, the training programme for the pilots by GATI is yet to start from the airstrip which has been lying deserted and abandoned since then.
This has sparked uneasiness among the people as they fear whether the government will live up to its promise in using the airstrip as a training centre for pilots.
Spread over 56 acres, the airstrip was used for landing and takeoff of aircraft in the past. It has been lying defunct for the last several years but hopes soared high on its revival when the General Administration Department (GAD) carried out developmental works in 2013.
The Works Department had then spent Rs 1.10 crore for construction of a boundary wall around the airstrip while the GAD spent nearly Rs 40 lakh on construction of the runway and drains in the airstrip. However, the compound wall was soon pulled down by a passing herd of elephants.
Moreover, the airstrip lacks a restroom for the pilots. Obviously, the government overlooked the convenience when it gave green signal to turn the airstrip into the GATI.
Later, the state government decided to turn it into a training centre for newly recruited pilots but had not issued any NOC. The GAD and Public Grievances Department dispatched a letter (No 16954, dated 19.06.2018) to the accounts manager at GATI in the old terminal building of Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar and informed them about the government decision.
According to the letter, the NOC is valid for a period of three years from the date of issue with certain conditions. GATI will not have the sole monopoly on the airstrip for aviation training but it will be used for landing of government, private flights as well as helicopters when there is no training work.
The state’s aviation director will issue permission for use of the airstrip for government and private programmes for which GATI would have to coordinate with them.
GATI officials would have to obtain prior permission before start of any aviation training and would use it solely for training purpose.
Executive engineer of Works Department, Manoranjan Biswal, had then said that a restroom would be constructed soon for the pilots for which Rs 50 lakh had been sanctioned and the tender process would begin soon.
PNN