Odisha’s First Tribal Woman Pilot Flies Maiden Bhubaneswar-Malkangiri Flight

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Malkangiri: Almost four years after becoming the first tribal woman from Odisha to become a commercial pilot, 32-year-old Anupriya Madhumita Lakra piloted the maiden flight from Bhubaneswar to Malkangiri, also her native place, as the once one of the most backward districts of Odisha afflicted by left wing extremism, found itself on the aviation map with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurating the airport at Katelguda on Tuesday.

Belonging to the Santal community, Anupriya studied at Deepti Convent School in Malkangiri till Class VII before shifting to Semiliguda where she completed her intermediate course from Jeevan Jyoti School and subsequently moved to Bhubaneswar to study engineering. However, she quit engineering studies midway and joined Government Aviation Training Institute (GATI) in 2012 to pursue her dream of becoming a pilot.

In September 2019, she fulfilled her lifelong ambition of becoming a pilot when she joined IndiGo as a co-pilot.

Anupriya ’s father Mariniyas Larka, a police constable in Malkangiri, had then told Hindustan Times that he took loans to fund her pilot training and meet her study expenses for over 7 years. “Though it was difficult for me, I always ensured that my daughter gets an education in the field she wanted to. She had to appear in several examinations to get the commercial pilot’s licence. But we never wanted her to stop dreaming.”

The CM had also hailed her as an epitome of perseverance and determination.

Malkangiri Airport

The airport at Katelguda under Goudaguda panchayat, on the outskirts of Malkangiri town, has been built over 94.5 hectare of land with a 1,620 metre long and 30 metre wide runway at an expenditure of Rs 33 crore. Authorities of Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar have provided technical assistance to make the airport operational. In the first phase, nine-seater aircrafts are likely to operate from the airport while larger aircrafts will provide services later.

“Air connectivity to Malkangiri will usher in a new era of development for people of the region and open up avenues of business and tourism besides helping industrial development of the state,” Naveen said after the inauguration.

With the addition of Malkangiri airport, Odisha’s total operational airports have gone up to seven. The other six airports are located in Bhubaneswar, Jharsuguda, Jeypore in Koraput, Utkela in Kalahandi, Rourkela in Sundargarh and Rangeilunda in Ganjam.