Silk City pins hopes on greenfield airport in Berhampur

BERHAMPUR: The people of Silk City are hoping that Berhampur might be allotted a greenfield airport after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced construction of 50 new airports, helipads and aerodromes across the country in her 2023-24 Union Budget on Wednesday.Various organisations of Silk City have been agitating for establishment of the greenfield airport in Berhampur for the past several years and submitted memorandums to the different Union ministers and chief minister Naveen Patnaik.“As the central government will establish 50 airports and airstrips across the country, we hope the Union government will consider our demand for establishment of an airport at Berhampur,” said Ram Prasad Tripathy, president, Odisha Development Forum. “At the same time, the state government should pressurise the Centre and extend all help for the establishment of a greenfield airport in the city,” added Srikant Padhy, another member of the organisation. Earlier, the Milita Kriya Anusthan Committee had dashed over 10,000 postcards to the chief minister demanding the establishment of the greenfield airport. The master plan of Berhampur Development Authority (BeDA) has earmarked around 300 acres of government land near Laxmipur for construction of the greenfield airport. “We urged the government to utilise the same land for construction of a greenfield airport,” said Pitabash Panda, a trade union leader. At present, the government wants to develop an airstrip at Rangeilunda, near Berhampur University.