Bengal govt looking to bring back Chharra airfield in Purulia

If everything goes as planned, then the airstrip will be revived to a full-fledged airport and the idea behind taking the initiative is to further improve the inter-district air connectivity.

A high-level meeting headed by Chief Secretary Malay De was held in Nabanna on Friday in this connection and senior officials of the state Public Works Department (PWD) and state Transport department, attended the meeting.

According to sources in the state secretariat, the meeting ended on a very positive note and concerned officials initiated discussions to frame a roadmap to execute the project soon after the meeting was over.

Soon after coming to power, the Mamata Banerjee government has taken the decision to improve air-connectivity between districts.

Similarly, the airstrip in Purulia will also be revived and it is expected that it will also help in improving the economy of the area. The airstrip is situated on 603.45 acres of land and the state government officials are going to take all necessary steps to ensure revival of the airport as early as possible.

The state PWD, which has already undertaken the work to revive Malda and Balurghat airports, will also carry out the same work at Chharra in Purulia.

Following the meeting headed by the Chief Secretary, another meeting was held in the state PWD, in which the matter has been discussed among senior officials and engineers of the department.

It may be recalled that the erstwhile Left Front government had also mulled a project in 2018 to develop Chharra Aerotropolis Project in Purulia. But the project had not seen the light of day for certain reasons.

Now with the steps taken by the Mamata Banerjee government, the senior officials feel that the airstrip will be surely developed this time, as the other projects, which have been taken up after the change of guard in the state, are on the verge of completion.

The revival of the airstrip to an airport in Purulia will be helpful for common people as well, since in case of any emergency, or if a person is seriously ill, then he or she can be airlifted to Kolkata.

Moreover, industrialists can visit the place in just a few hours if they are interested to invest in Purulia and according to a section of officials, this is another reason for mulling a plan to revive the airstrip within a couple of days after the Bengal Global Business Summit.