Bhubaneswar: In a bid to boost regional air connectivity, the state government is aiming to make Jeypore and Utkela air strips ready by next March.
A decision on this was taken at a high-level meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi here Wednesday. The Centre had decided to provide air connectivity to Rourkela, Jharsuguda, Utkela (Kalahandi) and Jeypore (Koraput) and Bhubaneswar under Phase-I of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)-UDAN.
The Biju Patnaik International Airport of Bhubaneswar was selected as the mentor airport for RCS. The Obstacle and Limitation Surface (OLS) survey of all the four airstrips has been completed. The airstrips are being developed with funding from both the state government and the Airports Authority of India (AAI), official sources said.
Regional connectivity flights will start from Jharsuguda airport in the first week of February, 2018. According to the source, the required infrastructure at the airstrip in Rourkela has been constructed and the first flight is likely to land in the steel city from Kolkata January 23.
DGP RP Sharma, who was present at the meeting, said around 135 police and 27 fire personnel have already been trained for providing security and fire services at regional airstrips/airports.
Flights on routes like Bhubaneswar to Utkela, Utklela to Raipur, Bhubaneswar to Jeypore, Bhubaneswar to Jharsuguda, Jharsuguda to Ranchi and Bhubaneswar to Rourkela were suggested at the meeting.
The state government is providing both manpower and aid to make the regional scheme viable initially. The state is also providing land, security and fire services. Electricity and water would also be provided at minimum rates.
It is expected that the subsidies and financial assistance will keep fares on regional routes affordable. The average fare on the regional flights would be around `2,500 an hour, they said.
PNN
