Rourkela: Bad weather forced Odisha Governor Raghubar Das to abandon his trip to Kendudihi village in Lahunipada block as his aircraft was unable to land in Rourkela due to poor visibility on Sunday.
He was scheduled to meet Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram’s family to offer his condolences on the death of Jhingia Oram.
The aircraft hovered close to the airport from 10 am to 10:30 am but had to return without landing. Plans to take the aircraft to Jharsuguda were also discussed, but the pilot decided to return to Bhubaneswar and not take any undue risks as the visibility was very poor, source said.
The incident exposed the inadequacies at the city airport, operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) but owned by SAIL, as it lacks an instrument landing system (ILS) and night landing facilities for all-weather operations. The airport is currently operating under ARC 2C certification and recently upgraded to allow Special VFR (Visual Flight Rules) operations with a minimum visibility of 2,800 metre.
Rourkela airport was made operational under the RCS-UDAN initiative on January 7, 2023, with Alliance Air providing daily flights to Bhubaneswar and thrice-weekly flights to Kolkata. But cancellations persisted due to the lack of these facilities.
In November 2023, the then BJD government selected RITES Ltd as a consultant to prepare Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for the expansion of Rourkela airport, targeting Code 3C commercial operation licences. There was also demand for full takeover from SAIL for seamless operations.
In the run-up to the 2024 general elections, former Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had assured Jual Oram of steps toward transferring airport ownership to the AAI. However, there has been no progress since formation of Modi government 3.0.
BJP state president Manmohan Samal, while campaigning and interacting with the media here before the polls, had blamed the Naveen Patnaik-led government for failing to install the ILS at the airport and acquire land from SAIL for the same.
Jual also reiterated his commitment to ensuring the airport’s transition to AAI management.
Former general secretary of Steel Executives’ Federation of India (SEFI), Bimal Bisi, described the incident as a huge embarrassment for the city. “This is happening despite there being a double-engine government,” he stated.
Rourkela ADM Ashutosh Kulkarni told the media the need for an ILS has been communicated to the Transport Department, and an early decision is expected.
