ITANAGAR, 8 Mar: Governor BD Mishra and Chief Minister Pema Khandu reviewed the progress of the construction of the greenfield airport in Hollongi on Tuesday.
Civil Aviation Minister Nakap Nalo, Rajya Sabha member Nabam Rebia, local MLA Tana Hali Tara, Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar and senior officers of the state government, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Power Grid were present during the visit.
Stating that “every component builder should realise the pressing need, the urgency and the necessity to finish the project at the earliest,” the governor advised the project managers and officials to ensure “weekly reporting and monitoring for all components of the airport,” and to take immediate actions to expedite the progress of the work.
He suggested involving the local MLAs and the district administration to address public grievances and administrative bottlenecks, and to accelerate the work.
Khandu said that the airport has to be made operational by 15 August, 2022, and called for “priority clearance by the AAI and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security.”
He informed that the services will start with two 16-seater planes.
Regarding the airport terminal, he said, “It will take some time to come up with a permanent structure, considering the state’s weather condition. A prefabricated temporary structure for a terminal is under construction.”
The chief minister also said that “all the six to seven ALG services will also be starting services from Hollongi.”
CS Kumar and AAI Regional Executive Director Ravi Kant briefed the governor and the CM on “the status, progress and timeline of the works completion.”
Civil Aviation Secretary Swapnil M Naik spoke about the progress of peripheral works, while state security adviser Maj Gen SC Mohanty highlighted the details of the security requirements, “including the manpower selection, their training, their affiliation for job familiarisation and the security personnel’s availability.”
Earlier, the governor and the chief minister inspected the ongoing works on critical structures, the runway, and the Kokila river diversion measures. (Raj Bhavan)
