In a major boost to the Tourism sector in Odisha, the Airport
Authority of India (AAI) is planning to set up a water aerodrome in the Chilika
lake – the largest backwater lagoon in Asia and Second largest in the World.
Recently, a two-day preliminary feasibility survey was
carried out in the lake by a special team led by the AAI officials, SpiceJet,
Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre, Chilika Development Authority (CDA) and the
state Water Resources Department June 15 and 16 to decide on the location of
the proposed aerodrome. The proposed aerodrome entailing an investment of Rs 10
crore will have 500-feet runway. In addition, the flight services at the
proposed aerodrome will be under the UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme.
As of now, Spice Jet proposed to connect three routes in
Odisha, which have commercial as well as tourism importance — Bhubaneswar to
Puri via Chilika Lake, Bhubaneswar to Chandipur via Bhitarkanika National Park
and Bhubaneswar to Hirakud Dam in Sambalpur.
