3rd Aug 2017 10:08:PM State
Eastern Sentinel Arunachal News

GUWAHATI, Aug  3 : Amid deteriorating Sino-Indian ties, this is one news that may soothe some frayed nerves. The Arunachal Pradesh government and the Union aviation ministry have zeroed in on Hollongi as the site for a Greenfield airport. Earlier, the government was examining Tawang —very close to Tibet (China) — as a possible site for the new airport. But due to paucity of land needed for the project, Hollongi has been selected.

"We had examined two sites in Arunachal (including Banderdewa, which is also called Karshingsa). The state government of Arunachal and a panel of aviation ministry have chosen Hollongi as the site for a new Greenfield airport. It will be big enough to have ATR-72 (a turbopropo) movement," Airports Authority of India (AAI) chairman Guruprsdad Mohapatra told TOI.

At present, Arunachal does not have a functional civilian airport. But Indian Air Force has some advanced landing grounds in the state for strategic purposes.

AAI has made an airport in Tezu which can now have ATR operations from bigger northeastern airports like Guwahati and Dibrugarh. This airport will soon be inaugurated.

Strategically-vital Tawang is close to India's international borders with Bhutan and China. Sources say the reason for not choosing Tawang as an airport site was due to paucity of land. And now Hollongi has been chosen for the Rs 1,000-crore airport project. "Tawang was a very hilly site. Clearing a site for an airport there would have meant cutting-and-filling hills which would have had a high cost, both monetary and environmentally," said an official.


Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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