Bhubaneswar: The state government is mulling to operationalise a pre-Independence era airstrip, which was extensively used by the British during the World War II, located at Amarda in Mayurbhanj district near Balasore.
Though the move to renovate the airstrip began in 2013, it gained momentum after Balasore MP Rabindra Kumar Jena took up the matter with the Union civil aviation ministry and raised the issue in Parliament.
The Centre has also expressed its interest to renovate this strategically located airstrip, about 45 km from Bay of Bengal coast, sources said.
After the Union government took up the issue, principal secretary, general administration, Niten Chandra asked Mayurbhanj collector Rajesh Prabhakar Patil to make an assessment of the present condition of the runway, ownership of the airstrip land and other related infrastructure to take a decision regarding its operationalisation.
The government has also asked the Mayurbhanj collector to submit the status report immediately, particularly about the airstrip's present condition, length and width of the runway.
Officials in the state government said the British period airstrip has nearly 11,000ft concrete runaway with adequate land. It had the longest runway in Asia, more than 3.5km long. The total runway, taxiway and the apron and its surrounding area are more than 60km in length. The airstrip had also witnessed collision between two aircraft that claimed lives 14 of airmen in 1945.
08/03/15 Subhashish Mohanty/The Telegraph
Though the move to renovate the airstrip began in 2013, it gained momentum after Balasore MP Rabindra Kumar Jena took up the matter with the Union civil aviation ministry and raised the issue in Parliament.
The Centre has also expressed its interest to renovate this strategically located airstrip, about 45 km from Bay of Bengal coast, sources said.
After the Union government took up the issue, principal secretary, general administration, Niten Chandra asked Mayurbhanj collector Rajesh Prabhakar Patil to make an assessment of the present condition of the runway, ownership of the airstrip land and other related infrastructure to take a decision regarding its operationalisation.
The government has also asked the Mayurbhanj collector to submit the status report immediately, particularly about the airstrip's present condition, length and width of the runway.
Officials in the state government said the British period airstrip has nearly 11,000ft concrete runaway with adequate land. It had the longest runway in Asia, more than 3.5km long. The total runway, taxiway and the apron and its surrounding area are more than 60km in length. The airstrip had also witnessed collision between two aircraft that claimed lives 14 of airmen in 1945.
08/03/15 Subhashish Mohanty/The Telegraph
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