650 acre, Rs 400 crore and more: How Jharkhand’s Deoghar airport that PM will inaugurate came up

Elaborate arrangements and security has been beefed up in Jharkhand ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to inaugurate the newly-constructed Deoghar airport, as well as other developmental projects.

Prime Minister Modi took to Twitter to speak of his visit to the state and also the significance of the airport — which is the second one in the state and will also facilitate easy access to the famous Baba Baidyanath Dham, one of the twelve jyotirlingas.

पवित्र श्रावण मास के शुभारंभ से ठीक पहले पावन नगरी देवघर के बाबा बैद्यनाथ मंदिर में दर्शन और पूजन का सौभाग्य प्राप्त होगा। 12 जुलाई को यहां एयरपोर्ट के उद्घाटन का भी सुअवसर मिलेगा। इससे श्रद्धालुओं के लिए बाबाधाम की यात्रा और आसान होगी, साथ ही झारखंड के पर्यटन को बढ़ावा मिलेगा। pic.twitter.com/kKEYbsBzx4

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 11, 2022

Today will also mark the first flight to land at the Deoghar airport. IndiGo’s flight from Kolkata to the city of Deoghar will mark the airline’s 74th domestic and 99th overall destination. In a statement, the airline said, “In line with its commitment to enhancing domestic connectivity, IndiGo, India’s leading airline, today announced the launch of its 74th domestic and 99th overall destination. The airline will commence exclusive flights between Kolkata-Deoghar, effective 12 July 2022.”

Let’s take a closer look at the airport which will be inaugurated by the prime minister.

All about the airport

The Deoghar Airport will be the second international airport in Jharkhand after Ranchi. Prime Minister Modi had laid the foundation stone for the airport back in May 2018.

The airport is spread across 650 acres and was constructed at an approximate cost of Rs 400 crore.

As per officials, the terminal of the building has been designed by the Baba Baidyanath temple and it features paintings of tribal art, handicrafts, and local tourist sites.

The terminal with beautiful architecture is equipped with modern facilities including 24-hour medical assistance for passengers. With six check-in counters, the airport has a peak hour handling capacity of 200 passengers and five lakh passengers annually.

As per officials, the airport also has a solar energy as well as water harvesting system installed.

According to ANI, the airport director of Deoghar, Sandeep Kumar Dhingra, said, “Deoghar Airport is a domestic airport where Airbus A-320 & A-321 can land on a runway, which is 2,500 metre. Its width is 45 metre. It has four parking bases for A-320 & A-321. We have six check-in counters, a departure conveyor, and two arrival conveyor belts. X-rays, security equipment, and CCTVs have also been installed inside the terminal.”

With its strategic location, the airport reduces the distance between Kolkata and Deoghar from seven-and-a-half hours to 75 minutes and also provides better air connectivity to people from Dumka, Gonda, Banka, and the neighbouring state of Bihar.

Highlighting the importance of the airport in Deoghar, Kaushal told news agency ANI, “Due to COVID-19, we had gone through a lot of troubles from the economic point of view, but Deoghar Airport will surely deliver a boom to retail markets of this place because the products of this place will now reach the international market in the future”.

An official statement notes that prior to 2014, India had 74 airports. However, in the past seven years, India has seen a significant rise in airports across the country — 66 airports taking the total tally to 140, which includes heliports as well as water domes as of April 2022.

Other development projects

There is much excitement in Jharkhand ahead of Modi’s arrival in the state. Posters and banners welcoming the prime minister have been put up in several parts of Deoghar. Locals of the area also lit diyas on Monday night to welcome Modi.

Amazing Deoghar Story!
In Deoghar, it’s Diwali in monsoon as people light diyas to celebrate the arrival of Prime Minister @narendramodi who will be inaugurating big projects, among them a spanking new airport built in record time and world class AIIMS Deoghar on 12 July.
n1 pic.twitter.com/UGx1WjMfpT

— Kanchan Gupta