Punjab, Haryana bicker over airport name

Chandigarh: Punjab and Haryana are slugging it out over the nomenclature of an international airport proposed on a Punjab land adjacent to Chandigarh.
While Haryana wants it to be named Chandigarh International Airport, Punjab is pitching for Mohali International Airport.
The Airport Authority of India (AAI) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the governments of Punjab and Haryana last week for the upgrade of the Chandigarh (domestic) airport for international flights.
Mohali International Airport was one of the main development planks of the Akali Dal during its election campaign in February last year. After the AAI okayed the project, chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and son Sukhbir listed it as one of the major achievements of their government.
Last week, however, as the MOU was about to be signed, Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda put a spanner seeking the inclusion of his state as a partner in the project as setting up of a new international airport involved upgrading the existing Chandigarh airport, though the expansion would take place on Punjab land. Hooda contended that since Haryana shared Chandigarh as capital with Punjab, it had a rightful claim to be party to the project.
10/01/08 Ajay Bharadwaj/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Airports Jan 2008, New Jan 2008