Rourkela: Bad weather forced Odisha Governor Raghubar Das to abandon his trip Sunday to this city and he had to return to Bhubaneswar. The eight-seater aircraft carrying Das could not land at the airport here due to inclement weather. As per his schedule, the governor was scheduled to meet Union Minister Jual Oram’s family Sunday. Oram’s wife Jhingia had breathed her last a few days back due to dengue. Das wanted to meet Oram and console him. However, bad weather acted as an impediment. The aircraft remained airborne for more than 20 minutes close to the airport. Plans to take the aircraft to Jharsuguda and land it there were also discussed.
However, in the end, the pilot thought it would be better to take back the aircraft to Bhubaneswar and not take any undue risks as the visibility was very poor. “This incident has again exposed the situation at the Rourkela airport. Had there been an instrument landing system (ILS) the aircraft could have easily landed. This is a huge embarrassment to the city,” said Bimal Bisi, president of Sachetan Nagarik Manch (SNM). Bisi asserted that all-weather air connectivity to Rourkela remains elusive. “This is happening despite there being a double-engine government,” Bisi stated. It should be stated here that before the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the state, BJP leader Manmohan Samal while campaigning and interacting with the media here had blamed the Naveen Patnaik-led government for failing to install the ILS at the airport for its failure to acquire land from SAIL for the same purpose. “But what is preventing the present government now from installing the ILS,” asked a BJP local leader on condition of anonymity
