Tawang leaders hail Centre's move to build airport

The lawmakers of Tawang district in Arunachal Pradesh have hailed the Centre's decision to construct an airport in the area and said the project would boost connectivity.
"Construction of airport at Tawang is a two-edged sword which will not only help from the defence point of view but will also improve the socio-economic condition of the people in the remote border district that has remained isolated from mainland India due to poor road connectivity," Urban Development, Art and Culture Minister Pema Khandu said.
Hinting that there is a big airfield just across the LAC where large aircraft operate in all weather conditions, Pema further informed that the people of the district were quite enthusiastic of the proposed airport project and were ready to provide land any where in the district apart from the present proposed site, a communique said here today.

He, however, said that a team from the Airport Authority of India (AAI) on November 7, 2013, after inspection, identified Saulatse at Lumla in Tawang district to be technically feasible for airport construction.
"The villagers of Saulatse have already consented to provide land for the airport project and the district administration is in the process of acquiring the land", Lumla MLA Jambey Tashi said.
"The road from the nearest airport at Tezpur in neighbouring Assam to Tawang is in deplorable condition and takes a pain-staking 12 to 14 hour travel-time to cover just about 360 km," Tawang MLA Tsering Tashi lamented.

"The airport at Tawang will provide as an alternate and a faster means of transportation to the general public and the tourist in particular," he added.
The only route to the remote Indo-China border district of Tawang is the BCT (Balipara-Charduar-Tawang) road maintained by Border Road Organization (BRO) and is still under construction (widening) even after more than a decade.