Yogi govt plans airport terminal in Chitrakoot

Lucknow: After initiating construction of a full-fledged airport in Ayodhya to enable landing of big aircrafts and boost religious tourism, the Yogi Adityanath government has moved a proposal for expanding the air strip and constructing an airport terminal in Chitrakoot, the place where Lord Ram is believed to have spent part of his 14 years in exile.
The department of civil aviation has proposed acquisition of one hectare land for expansion of air strip and construction of terminal building in Chitrakoot under the regional connectivity scheme.
The land will be sought from forest department, said special secretary, department of civil aviation, Surya Pal Gangwar. The government has released a sum of over Rs 10 lakh for initiating the project.
Sources said that the master plan of the project has already been prepared by Airport Authority of India (AAI) which would execute the project. “The district administration has been asked to adhere to the layout plan and accordingly intimate the state government about the progress of project,” Gangwar said in a letter to Chitrakoot divisional commissioner and district magistrate.
While the airport in Ayodhya is proposed to be in named after Lord Ram, the proposal for airstrip expansion and terminal construction in Chitrakoot focuses on ‘Ramayan Mela’. Not surprisingly, the proposal comes almost 10 days after the UP cabinet gave its nod to the process of notifying Chitrakoot district as a province as it would enable the government to organise Ramayan Mela on a large scale and bear its cost.
The government plans to organize Ramayan Mela as an inter-state and inter-district event, managed by the district magistrate as nodal officer.
The five-day ‘Ramayan Mela’, which started in 1973 during the regime of former CM Kamlapati Tripathi and is usually held in February or March, has been bringing together Ramayan story tellers and ascetics to the religious congregation in Chitrakoot.