Dream comes true as CM inaugurates Malkangiri airport

By A Iswar Rao

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 9: People of Malkangiri on literally got the wings to fly as Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the newly-constructed Malkangiri Airport.

Malkangiri airport, the seventh one in the state, thus connected the extreme southern part of the state with state capital Bhubaneswar.

The new airport is situated at Katelguda under Goudaguda panchayat on the outskirts of Malkangiri town.

“Air connectivity to Malkangiri will usher in a new era of development, open up avenues of business and tourism and further transform the lives of people in the region,” the CM said.

In the first phase, nine-seater aircrafts are likely to operate from the airport while larger aircrafts will provide services later.

The airport has been constructed on 233 acres of land at an expenditure of around Rs 70 crore.

Authorities of the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar have provided necessary technical assistance for operationalization of Malkangiri Airport.

The functioning of the airport, as the state government claimed, will bring rapid economic development in the region.

This is the second significant connectivity project in the district after the Gurupriya bridge, which was inaugurated by the CM Mr Patnaik in 2018. The bridge has been providing road connectivity between the cut-off areas of the district (named Swabhimana Anchal) and the mainland.

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Photograph: Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday waving at Bonda tribal girls as he get down from  an aircraft at Malkangiri Airport. On Tuesday, the CM inaugurated the airport.