Sunday, January 10, 2016

Chandigarh International airport: No clarity over the name

Chandigarh: In a rare instance, Akali Dal and Congress are in the same camp over the contentious issue of renaming Chandigarh International Airport after martyr Bhagat Singh. For a time, Haryana put a spanner in the works by proposing the name of former deputy CM and BJP leader Mangal Sein but backtracked to curtail the impression of them insulting the martyr. Despite everything nearly falling into place, the centre is considering a policy under which airports will be named after the cities they are located in. If this is implemented, they will have to name the airport after Mohali. But the city does not ring a bell on the international arena. Going by the fact that this is an international airport, can the government afford to name it after Mohali and what about the consensus on Bhagat Singh?
According to SAD MP Prem Singh Chandumajra, the airport will be named after Bhagat Singh in all likelihood. "Both Punjab and Haryana have agreed on the name of Bhagat Singh. But since Haryana still wants Chandigarh and Punjab wants Mohali in the name, the issue is stuck. Eventually, names of both cities may be used. A final decision will be taken soon."
10/01/16 Misha Pillai/Times of India

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