Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Monday launched flight services from Maa Danteshwari Airport in Jagdalpur under the Centre's UDAN scheme. Alliance Air will operate services to Raipur, some 300 kilometers away, and Hyderabad from the airport, which is named after the famous Goddess Danteshwari temple in Dantewada in tribal-dominated Bastar division.
In a recorded video message, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the move will boost tourism in the Bastar region, which is known for dense forests, high hills and waterfalls, like Chitrakot, and unique tribal culture.
"Earlier we tried to provide air connectivity (in 2018) through small flights from Jagdalpur to Raipur and Bhubaneshwar but it was not successful (and was discontinued in November that year). With joint efforts of the aviation ministry and the state government, Jagdalpur airport has now been upgraded for ATR flights," he said.
Flight connectivity will reduce travel time between Raipur and Jagdalpur from seven hours by road to just about 45 minutes.
Similarly, it will take 75 minutes to reach Hyderabad from Jagdalpur against 12 hours by road, Puri said.
Speaking about efforts being made under the regional connectivity scheme UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik), the Union minister said the Centre had given permission for upgradation of Jagdalpur, Ambikapur and Bilaspur airports in Chhattisgarh.
"The Centre had sanctioned Rs 48 crore for Jagdalpur airport, Rs 27 crore for Ambikapur and Rs 33 crore for Bilaspur. Of the total amount, Rs 102 crore has been spent," he said.
Moreover, the Authority of India (AAI) has planned to invest Rs 900 crore for further development and expansion of Raipur airport, which will also include expansion of the terminal building, he said.
The civil aviation ministry had granted permission to Alliance Air to operate flights between Bilaspur and Bhopal in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh under UDAN 4.0, Puri said, adding that the scheme had commissioned 281 routes so far and 50 unserved and under-served airports had been brought on the aviation map in the past few years.
CM Baghel said air connectivity with major cities will bring about the development of Bastar.
The Maa Dantehwari Airport in Jagdalpur has been set up on an area of 57.6 hectares, with the state Public Works Department having developed the infrastructure and AAI managing the Air Traffic Control, Baghel said.
Officials said the 72-seater flight will take off from Hyderabad at 9:50 am and land at 11:15 am in Jagdalpur and then depart for Raipur.
The flight will return the same day from Raipur to Hyderabad via Jagdalpur, leaving the Chhattisgarh capital at 1:40 pm, he said.
The flights will operate all days of the week, the CM informed.
The first service got a water cannon salute at the airport in Jagdalpur.
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