Arunachal Pradesh governor BD Mishra on November 8 reviewed the progress of the under-construction Itanagar Greenfield Airport at Hollongi, 28 km from the state capital.
Paying a visit to the project site, the governor asked the officials concerned to utilise to the optimum the rain-free five months of the working period available for completion of the project and to make up the work time lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ambitious Itanagar Greenfield Airport project is being executed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the foundation stone for which was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 9, 2019. Initially, the target for completion of the project was November 2022, but it was preponed to August 2022.
Holding a review meeting with the stakeholders, the governor took inputs on the critical areas which need to be completed within a timeframe to ensure that the first aircraft lands at the Itanagar Greenfield Airport on August 15, 2022.
He reviewed the progress of the construction of the runway, air traffic control system, departure and arrival lounges, security, power and water supply systems etc with concerned officials in the meeting.
The governor said that there is a maximum of five months of the rain-free period available for progressing the work and it should be utilized to the optimum. He called upon the people responsible for the airport construction, particularly the representatives of the AAI to work in mission mode and tandem involving all concerned departments.
The governor further emphasised that quality of work must be ensured according to the specifications and more importantly, it should ensure that the work loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic must be made up.
He also suggested the officials come up with the monthly progress chart of every activity or work ‘for the clearance of bottlenecks’.
He asked the state police department for starting the process of selection and training policemen in advance for security duties at the airport.
