Extending Jammu airport
The reason for long delay in the extension of Jammu airport has been the land dispute between the Army and the civil authorities. The land needed for extending the runway of Jammu airport is under the control of the Army, which had to be motivated to accept alternate site at Sunjwan. The Army took its time to handle the matter. At long last the State Cabinet approved to give the Army an alternate site and consequently sent the copy of cabinet decision to the 26th Division which is handling the issue. It is good news that the Army Headquarter will be deputing the Director of Land Works to interact with State authorities led by the Divisional Commissioner to finalize the exchange deal on August 1. This is a much delayed project and although funds for the extension of the runway and related matter like re-alignment of 132 KV electricity transmission line and a new approach road etc. have already been sanctioned, the matter had got held up for a final deal between the Army and the Revenue Department and the Airport Authority of India. Jammu has a strategically important airport because it feeds the Valley and Ladakh and at the same time to the remote places in Jammu province itself. Its expansion and further development are vital to the security, economy and connectivity. In fact there should be a plan of having an international level airport at Jammu with all modern facilities. That should be in the mind of planners when the final blue print is to be drawn. A lot more remains to be done to bring the Jammu airport to the level of a reasonable domestic airport.
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