Balangir: Tusura airstrip in the district has got the nod to conduct flight training as part of activities of the Government Aviation Training Institute located at Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar.
The state government has intimated its decision to Biju Patnaik airport director and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's director (flight training) in New Delhi. A letter from the government's additional secretary P.K. Biswal addressed to the airports authority said the state government had granted no objection for the institute to use the airstrip for conducting flight training as a satellite base for a period of three years.
Sources said Tusura airfield, spread over 50 acres, had a runway of 1,200 metres considered suitable for flying of small aircrafts, and thus the institute selected it as a satellite base for the flight training. The training may start towards the end of this year.
Each batch will consist of 40 trainees, who will undergo training for two years. They will have to spend the first one-and-a-half years at the institute in Bhubaneswar and the last six months at Tusura airfield.
Public works department sources said it would spend Rs 10 crore to improve the infrastructure in the airstrip. Earlier, the Centre had overlooked the demand of the local politicians, including leader of Opposition in the Assembly Narasingha Mishra, to include the airstrip under the regional airport development scheme called UDAN- RCS.
Utkela airfield in Kalahandi district has been listed for the UDAN-RCS.
Balangir resident Sukumar Mishra said it was very frustrating when the central government did not list Tusura airfield for the UDAN-RCS despite the demand of the local people as well as their representatives. "The only airfield in the district is languishing as it lies abandoned most of the time. We were expecting the government to include it under the UDAN-RCS, but it was unfortunate that they overlooked our demand. Now it is good news that the airfield will be used for flight training," he said.
