Party colleagues-turned-political rivals Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of the Parliament (MP) Narayan Rane on January 23 will share a dais on the occasion of the inauguration of Chipi airport in Sindhudurg district. This is the first time after the Maha Vikas Aghadi government came to power that both will be seen together.
The inauguration was earlier planned on January 26. However, it was shifted to January 23, as it happens to be Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray’s birthday anniversary.
Rane has been quite critical about the MVA government and has targeted Thackeray personally. He had urged the governor for the imposition of the President Rule in the state and has been issuing new deadlines for the fall of the MVA government.
Further, Rane had alleged the involvement of Thackeray’s son and state Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray in actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death and said he will soon be arrested. But Rane did not substantiate his claim. He had left it to the investigating agency to find out. However, Thackeray had strongly refuted charges made by Rane, and BJP in general, and claimed it was low and perverted politics.
According to the state government records, the construction of Chipi airport was completed by the second half of 2018 and the test flight from Mumbai Airport landed on September 12, 2018 on occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi during the BJP led government. The airport was formally inaugurated on March 5, 2019, by the former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and former Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu. However, despite announcements by the Sindhudurg district’s former guardian minister Deepak Kesarkar, commercial flight operations did not commence. This is the second time that the inauguration has been planned. This time, the commencement of commercial flights is expected.
The new Rs 520 crore airport with a 2,500 metres long runway is expected to enhance tourism in Sindhudurg and connect destinations in Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka. The greenfield airport, located on the Konkan coast, is just 20 kilometres from Sindhudurg Fort and Tarkarli Beach, a popular diving spot. Maharashtra is currently home to three international and 13 domestic airports. So, Chipi will become the 14 the airport to operate commercial flights.
The Chipi airport terminal building has a capacity to handle 400 passengers during peak hours with an annual passenger capacity of about 10 lakh.
Meanwhile, Rane’s son and BJP legislator Nitesh Rane has demanded that the Chipi airport be named after Bal Thackeray.
