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Puri, by air

Mr. Patnaik has cited the popularity of the Jagannath temple with Hindu pilgrims, the presence of a Blue Flag beach, proximity to Konark and the presence of Buddhist historical sites in support of his proposal.

Puri, by air

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik (Image: Twitter/@Naveen_Odisha)

While some eyebrows may be raised at the proposal made by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to set up an airport at Puri – an hour’s drive down a very good road from the international airport at Bhubaneswar – there is, on balance, much to commend the idea.

Mr. Patnaik has cited the popularity of the Jagannath temple with Hindu pilgrims, the presence of a Blue Flag beach, proximity to Konark and the presence of Buddhist historical sites in support of his proposal.

These are all valid reasons, but there is much more that supports the proposition. For generations, Puri has been a favourite of weekenders from Bengal who flock to its beaches using trains that link the town to Howrah. But these visitors, considerable though they may be in number, do not come close to realising the immense potential of Puri as a destination for both tourism and economic activity.

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While the Odisha government has already taken up a mega project for development of Puri, the attractions of the town deserve a far more substantial audience.

For air travellers, the use of Bhubaneswar may seem convenient, but adds a leg to a journey that might be made with greater alacrity should direct connections from cities such as Kolkata, Visakhapatnam, Delhi, Varanasi and Gaya be made available. In addition, connectivity to Paradeep and Astaranga ports would boost economic activity along both routes, as emphasised by Mr. Patnaik.

Most important, Odisha has already identified land – the lack of which is often a major impediment – for the project and has offered to play a proactive role in ensuring it comes to fruition in record time. In any event, greenfield airport projects can be put together at considerable speed because development is never constrained by the many imponderables involved in seeking to expand an existing facility.

For all these reasons, the proposal deserves urgent consideration of the Union government, principally the Ministry of Civil Aviation. In reaching a decision, it is important for the Union government to consider the many criticisms of its UDAN regional connectivity scheme.

In 2019, a survey had found that a miniscule fraction of the 440 routes cleared under the scheme had been operated regularly. For this reason, too, the government must look beyond merely linking hitherto inaccessible places by air and seek to identify sustainable proposals for expanding air operations. On this score, the proposal for an airport at Puri ranks high.

One final factor deserves weightage, and that is the record of the Odisha government in taking up development projects. There can be little cavil with the fact that the state under Mr. Patnaik has quietly but successfully transformed itself over the past couple of decades and has, notwithstanding some hiccups as with the Posco project, done much to lift itself out of endemic poverty.

The near fatal acceptance of the vagaries of nature which marked earlier regimes has made way for effective disaster management protocols that have drawn widespread praise.

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