Airport in Bastar to be made operational shortly

The Jagdalpur airport in restive Bastar region of Chhattisgarh will be made fully operational at the earliest under the central government's "common man flies" scheme.

This was disclosed on Wednesday at a meeting called to review the status of development projects and security related issues in the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected states. The meeting was chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh here.

"Regarding air connectivity, it was mentioned that the Jagdalpur airport will be operationalised shortly under the regional connectivity scheme," an official statement said.

The statement said the government has a plan to connect Jeypore airstrip in Odisha under the scheme called UDAN -- "Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik" -- which was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April from Jubbarhatti, an airport on the outskirts of Shimla.

During the meeting on Friday, Rajnath Singh said the multipronged strategy comprising of security, development, ensuring rights and entitlements of local communities should be vigorously pursued to defeat the left wing extremism.

The meeting reviewed different development projects, including road requirement plan, air connectivity, power, education, health and banking sectors.

"(Some) 4,433 km roads have been constructed which include 1,504 km road constructed during the last three years in the most difficult areas," the statement said.

The Home Minister asked the officials to expedite the remaining roads at the earliest and expressed his concern over delay in submission of Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) by the state governments.

Regarding electrification, the meeting was informed that the "remaining 717 villages" in the left wing extremism affected areas will be covered under intense electrification scheme shortly.

"Eight solar parks are also planned for the affected areas for which land acquisition is under progress."

--IANS

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