Last week, Jharsuguda in Odisha opened a revamped airport to flight operations for passengers. Earlier, it was a small airstrip that could accommodate only small charter flights. About 250 kilometres away, in Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh, Chakarbhata airport construction is ongoing.
There is more than one common link between these two airports, which have sprung up around the mining belts of two of India’s top mining states—Odisha and Chhattisgarh. They will both be linked through Air Odisha, a joint venture airline operating under the central government’s flagship scheme UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) to “boost regional connectivity”. More importantly, some part of the funding for these two airports has come from a fund meant strictly for the mining-affected areas and people. Both airports have diverted part of the money coming to the respective districts under District Mineral Foundation (DMF) for works at the airports.
DMF was instituted under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 2015, to be established as a non-profit trust to “work for the interest and benefit of persons, and areas affected by mining.” The mining companies, which operate, pay a defined proportion of the royalty to DMF as a way of sharing profits with those whose land is being mined upon. However, diverting a part of this fund for construction of local airports is certainly not in the interest of those affected by mining.
27/06/18 Chinmayi Shalya/Down To Earth
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There is more than one common link between these two airports, which have sprung up around the mining belts of two of India’s top mining states—Odisha and Chhattisgarh. They will both be linked through Air Odisha, a joint venture airline operating under the central government’s flagship scheme UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) to “boost regional connectivity”. More importantly, some part of the funding for these two airports has come from a fund meant strictly for the mining-affected areas and people. Both airports have diverted part of the money coming to the respective districts under District Mineral Foundation (DMF) for works at the airports.
DMF was instituted under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 2015, to be established as a non-profit trust to “work for the interest and benefit of persons, and areas affected by mining.” The mining companies, which operate, pay a defined proportion of the royalty to DMF as a way of sharing profits with those whose land is being mined upon. However, diverting a part of this fund for construction of local airports is certainly not in the interest of those affected by mining.
27/06/18 Chinmayi Shalya/Down To Earth
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