PINAKI MAJUMDAR/KUMUD JENAMANI
Jamshedpur, Jan 31: After a hiatus of 10 years or so, commercial flight service from Jamshedpur began on Tuesday. Chief Minister Hemant Soren flagged off the Jamshedpur-Kolkata flight service from the Sonari Airport.
“The government is continuously making efforts to improve and facilitate the traffic system in the state. Road, railway, water and air connectivity is being strengthened to provide maximum amenities to the people,” he said soon after flagging off the flight service this morning.
He wished that similar air services will also be available from Jamshedpur to other cities soon and said that the state government will come up with a new airport in Sahibganj.
Addressing the function online, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said, “A glimpse of our resolve to take air service to the people across the country can be seen in the form of commencement of air service from Jamshedpur to Kolkata.”
He went on to say that air connectivity under UDAAN service is being expanded at a fast pace and that initiative is being taken to connect Jamshedpur to Kolkata and Bhubaneshwar by air.
The commercial flight facility is being provided from Jamshedpur to Kolkata and from Kolkata to Jamshedpur by IndiaOne Air’s 9- seater aircraft.
This service will be operated daily from February 1. The aircraft will take off from Jamshedpur at 10.15 am and reach Kolkata at 11.20 am, while it will return from Kolkata at 12.10 am and Jamshedpur at 1.20 am.
Meanwhile, the much-awaited Jugsalai road overbridge was opened for commuters after its formal inauguration by the chief minister.
Soren applauded the work of both the state road construction department (RCD) and the railway for setting up the ROB.
“People, especially those residing in Jugsalai and the adjoining areas will no longer have to face difficulties while commuting to the rest of the steel city,” the CM said in his inaugural speech.
Set up at a cost of Rs 41 crores jointly by the RCD’s Jamshedpur division and the South Eastern Railway, the ROB was a long-awaited demand of the people, especially that of Jugsalai locality which is also the main commercial hub of the city.
The commuters would face difficulties at the Jugsalai level-crossing due to the congestion caused by the frequent use of drop-gate there because of the dozens of trains that pass through the stretch round the clock.
State health minister Banna Gupta, transport minister Champai Soren besides several officials from the RCD, district administration and the railway were present on the occasion.
