A TV grab of chief minister Arjun Munda, flanked by Shibu Soren and chief secretary SK Choudhary, in Ranchi during the foundation ceremony for the Deoghar airport on Tuesday and (below) police control an unruly group of villagers (in picture by Arun Keshri) who attacked the VIP motorcade in Kunda

Ranchi/Deoghar, July 17: Chief minister Arjun Munda today laid online the foundation stone of the Rs 350-crore Deoghar airport project amid a stray protest by villagers in the temple district and a show of strength by political workers that hinted at the growing BJP-JMM divide.

The airport — which envisages revamp and extension of the existing airstrip — is expected to see the light of day in the next two years and give a major boost to religious tourism in Jharkhand, besides providing viable air connectivity to the underdeveloped Santhal Pargana region.

“An MoU between the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the state government was signed earlier this year (February). Today’s foundation function was a step forward,” said S.P. Sinha, flight operations in-charge in the state civil aviation department.

Present on the occasion at Munda’s Kanke Road residence were JMM chief and state co-ordination committee chairman Shibu Soren, chief secretary S.K. Choudhary, the chief minister’s principal secretary D.K. Tiwary and civil aviation secretary K.K. Khandelwal among others.

On the other end of the video-conference — at Kunda in Deoghar — were deputy chief minister Hemant Soren, welfare minister Haji Hussain Ansari, JMM MLA S.S. Bhokta and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.

According to the proposed scheme of things, two runways — one 2,700 metres long and 45 metres wide and the other 2,820 metres long and 300 metres wide — will be laid along with a parallel taxiway and an isolation bay.

The proposed domestic airport will also include a 156-acre terminal, a car park, a cargo complex and a residential colony. The MoU agrees on debut infrastructure for ATR-72 aircraft, which will subsequently be upgraded for A321-class aircraft.

In December 2011, the state had also inked an MoU with Jindal Steel and Power Limited for developing a World War II airstrip in Dumka, the headquarters of the Santhal Pargana commissionerate.

The existing Deoghar airstrip stands on 50-odd acres, with a 2,500-feet-long runway that is again in bad shape.

Sinha said 675 acres of land would be required for the project, of which 400 acres are needed in the first phase. “For these 400 acres, the civil aviation department has already placed a requisition with Deoghar deputy commissioner R.K. Purwar. A sum of Rs 50 crore has been handed over to the district administration there for the purpose,” he added.

However, a stray incident raised a land hurdle alarm. Around 500 villagers in and around Kunda attacked the VIP motorcade with stone missiles while it was returning after the foundation function this afternoon.

Deputy commissioner Purwar, however, allayed fears. “At a meeting with Deoghar district authorities in the presence of AAI officials a couple of days ago, land owners agreed to hand over their acres for the airport. There is no question of protest against land acquisition,” he said.

Deoghar police chief Subodh Prasad said the stone-pelting was politically motivated, but failed to disturb the function. “Four vehicles, including government ones, were damaged. No one was injured. Three villagers have been detained and an FIR was lodged with Kunda police,” he added.

The other fracas took place earlier in the day, soon after the foundation was laid.

JMM and BJP workers breached security in a zealous bid to claim credit for the airport project. Some JMM workers allegedly made objectionable remarks against BJP MP Dubey, triggering tension that was quickly quelled by police and senior leaders of both parties.