Sri Jagannath International Airport at Puri gets MoEFCC clearance
Sri Jagannath International Airport at Puri got the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) clearance, said reports on Monday.
Puri: Sri Jagannath International Airport at Puri got the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) clearance, said reports on Monday.
The survey work to identify the land for Sri Jagannath International Airport at Puri began on June 17, 2021 AAI officials along with Puri collector Samarth Verma visited two places in Puri. The two places are in the Puri – Brahmagiri road and marine drive.
It is to be noted that earlier in January Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik had written a letter to PM Modi on this explaining the justification of an international airport in Puri.
It is worth mentioning that the MoEFCC has accorded clearance for 27.85 hectare of forest land (deemed forest), which amounts to around 68.81 acre, for the international airport, which will come up on an area of around 1,164.75 acre.
The airport land includes 68.81 acre of forest, 221.89 acre of private and the rest state government land in Sipasarubali and Sandhapur under Brahmagiri tehsil. The private land required for the project includes 153.78 acre in Sipasarubali and 68.11 acre in Sandhapur.
Puri is linked to two Chilika Lake and Bhitarkanika National Park. Both these locations have huge potential for international eco-tourism. Puri beach has also been recently transformed into a Blue Flag beach with world-class experience for the toursists. Also, Buddhist Heritage sites like Dhauli, Ratnagiri etc. attract Buddhist pilgrims from across the world.
The Rath Yatra of Puri is a world-famous annual event attracting lakhs of pilgrims and visitors from across the world. The proposed airport will help bring Jagannath devotees from across the world to Puri and will help promote Jagannath culture across the world, the CM explained in the letter to the PM. Accordingly, an international Airport had been prosposed in the name of Sri Jagannath International Airport.
The State government has identified land at Puri for the proposed airport and will proactively support all the activities required for establishing the airport in a record time, the CM also mentioned in the letter.
Ms Kalinga