Team News Riveting
Raipur, June 11
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has written a letter to the Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya M. Scindia urging to include Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur city in the UDAN-5 scheme.
It would enable people of the city, also known as cultural capital of Chhattisgarh, to travel to other parts of the country and boost the economic development of the region. The Chief Minister underlined in the letter that he has received information from sources that the ministry of Civil Aviation has not included Bilaspur city in the UDAN–5 scheme.
The people of Bilaspur Zone are disappointed because of the Central Government’s decision, the Chief Minister said, adding that Bilaspur is the second-most important city in the state. The city houses the High Court of the state and necessitates regular air service facilities and better connectivity.
The Chief Minister has also written in the letter that the state government, in consultation with the DGCA. and the Union Ministry of Aviation, had invested Rs 45 crore from the state budget to build basic infrastructure that included terminal building, runway expansion, arrangement of security equipment, etc. for starting regular air service at Bilaspur Airport.
Because of the consistent efforts of the state government, Bilaspur was connected to the country’s air link, and services were started from the city to Jabalpur, New Delhi, Prayagraj, Indore, etc. The number of passengers on all the flights arriving to and departing from Bilaspur was promising. However, later, for unknown reasons, the flight service to Indore was stopped, Baghel said.
In the letter, the Chief Minister requested the Civil Aviation Minister to take immediate action to add Bilaspur city to the UDAN-5 scheme so that people of the region can travel to other parts of the country, contributing to the economic development of the region as well.
