Cooch Behar airport to miss April deadline

Cooch Behar: Union civil aviation minister, Mr Praful Patel, had informed the Rajya Sabha on 14 March last year that “the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has taken initiatives for the resumption of air services in Cooch Behar, Pant Nagar, Akola, Gondia, Surat and Mysore. Work for strengthening and extension of runway and allied works have already been taken up at the Cooch Behar Airport ~ the probable date of completion is December 2006”.
On 1 February this year, chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had said that the Cooch Behar-Kolkata air service might start by April this year.
But nothing has been done so far.
Re-introduction of air service between Kolkata and Cooch Behar is not likely this April too.
The runway of the defunct Cooch Behar airport was renovated and the boundary wall constructed. A large number of trees were uprooted in the surrounding areas for safe landing of aircrafts. Senior AAI officials had made several visits to this airport and supervised the progress of work. But the situation is still unchanged.
30/03/07 Debashis Bhaumik/The Statesman

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Categories: Airports Mar 2007