ITANAGAR, July 2 � Arunachal Lok Sabha MP Takam Sanjoy has appealed to the Centre to reconsider the proposal for construction of a Greenfield Airport at Tawang taking into consideration its strategic location and country�s security. His plea follows the �news� that the Union Ministry concerned had put on hold the proposal.
In a letter to Praful Patel, the Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Sanjoy said, �After making extensive aerial and ground surveys for the construction of Greenfield Airport at Tawang, feasibility reports were submitted to your Ministry for early sanction, which is still awaited�. Resenting the inordinate delay on sanctioning of the project, the MP from West Parliamentary Constituency under which Tawang falls, urged Patel to pursue the matter at the earliest.
�I have come to know that construction of the Greenfield Airport at Tawang had been deferred in 2008 by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. There are alleged reports of the Defence Ministry trying to skip the proposal in the pretext of the area falling within the periphery of 70 km of Indo-China border,� wrote the MP, while citing that Agartala Airport is hardly 1 km off Bangladesh border.
�This stand of the Government of India in the long run will deprive the people of Arunachal Pradesh in addition to stopping the flow of a large number of tourists, both domestic and foreign to Tawang,� added Sanjoy, while pleading for more and more infrastructure development along the border to strengthen the strategic area.
The MP, however, said that the government has been trying its best to provide infrastructure development including establishment of Greenfield Airport in Arunachal capital, Itanagar. The Itanagar Greenfield Airport project has been finalised at an estimated cost of Rs 950 crore which is now awaiting Public Investment Board approval. �It will boost the infrastructure and subsequently economy of the State,� he said.
Meanwhile, in response to a letter from the Arunachal MP, Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas, Murli Deora has said that there is no overall shortage of LPG in the country, including Arunachal Pradesh.
Deora said the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) has made a supply of 11,853 metric tonne of domestic LPG to Arunachal Pradesh during the year 2009-10, which shows a growth of 7.6 per cent in comparison to the last year. Whenever the demand goes up, additional loads are released to the distributors for meeting the demand of the consumers, he stated.
The Union Minister informed that IOC has identified Kimin in Papum Pare district for setting up of an LPG distributorship under Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG Vitrak Yojana for which advertisement will be issued shortly. He said commissioning of LPG distributorship at Koloriang in Kurung Kumey district and at Naharlagun is in progress.