New Delhi: Centre Allocates Rs. 214 Crore For Heliports, Water Aerodromes In Northeastern States

GUWAHATI: The central government has allocated Rs 214.15 crore for the construction of heliports and water aerodromes in Assam and five Northeastern states under the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The UDAN scheme is a regional connectivity scheme of the Union government.

Other than Assam, the other five NE states to receive the fund allocation are Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Sikkim.

The projects selected for inclusion in the scheme to construct heliports are Geleki and Nagaon, while water aerodromes are envisaged in Guwahati riverfront and Kaziranga.

Rs 3 crore has been allocated for the Geleki heliport, and bids have already been invited for the construction of the heliport. Rs 6 crore has been allocated for the heliport in Nagaon, and the work is already in progress. Also, an amount of Rs 8 crore has been allocated for the Guwahati water aerodrome on the Brahmaputra river front. For the construction of the Kaziranga water aerodrome, no funds have been allocated as yet because of a letter sent by the Assam government regarding the change of location of the proposed Kaziranga water aerodrome.

In the letter, the state government has proposed that the water aerodrome should be built at Silghat in Nagaon district instead of Kaziranga. The name of Silghat has been proposed as this old town is located on the Brahmaputra and is close to Kaziranga.

There are eight heliports envisaged for Arunachal, and work on two heliports at Walong and Ziro is already complete, while work on the remaining six is in different stages of construction or under planning. Due to the mountainous terrain of Arunachal, there is an acute need for heliports. The other six heliports are in Daparizo (work in progress), Itanagar (terminal building work in progress), Tuting (work in progress), Yinghiong (OLS studies, survey work completed), Miao, and Vijaynagar (under planning).

Work on three heliports in Manipur has been held up since May 2022. The heliports are located in Moreh, Parbung, and Thanlon.

There is one heliport planned for Tura in Meghalaya, and a feasibility study report has been submitted to the Meghalaya government. OLS studies and survey work have been completed for the heliport.

Five heliports are planned for Nagaland, in Phek, Kohima, Zunheboto, Tuensang, and Mokokchung. All five are in the planning stage.

Similarly, three heliports are planned to be constructed in Sikkim in Peling (West), Gangtok (East), and Namchi (South). All three heliports are in the planning stage here too.

A budget allocation of Rs 13 crore each has been made for the five heliports in Nagaland and three in Sikkim.

One of the objectives of the UDAN scheme is to access underserved areas by connecting underserved or unserved airports, including heliports and water aerodromes, and providing air travel access to regions that lack proper transportation infrastructure. The aim is to provide low-cost regional connectivity to the people.

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