Arunachal Pradesh’s Hollongi greenfield airport named 'Donyi Polo', ops to begin from August 15

The third airport in Arunachal Pradesh, which is now under construction in Itanagar, the state capital, has been given the name "Donyi Polo Airport" by the Arunachal Pradesh administration. According to a representative of the Chief Minister's Office, the state cabinet adopted "Donyi Polo Airport" as the name of the airport at its meeting. Pema Khandu, the chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh, presided over the gathering. The name of the only airport in the capital city, according to the official, would represent the long-standing customs and rich cultural legacy of the tribally dominant state and would also reflect the long-standing indigenous respect for the Sun (Donyi) and the Moon (Polo) among the populace.

The Central government had earlier accorded its approval for setting up of the "greenfield airport" under the `Capital Connectivity Scheme` to build up fixed wing air connectivity facility to the state capital, which was a long cherished dream of the people of the bordering state, the official added.

The "Donyi Polo Airport" airport in Itanagar would be Arunachal Pradesh`s third airport after Pasighat and Tezu airports and northeast India`s 16th airport. The Chief Minister had earlier said that work on the airport is on war-footing and shall be made operational soon.

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The Airport Authority of India has undertaken a Rs 650 crore project to develop the airport to boost air connectivity in the mountainous areas.

Currently, there are 15 operational airports in the northeastern region -- Guwahati, Silchar, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Tezpur, Lilalabari, and Rupsi (Assam), Tezu and Pasighat (Arunachal Pradesh), Agartala (Tripura), Imphal (Manipur), Shillong (Meghalaya), Dimapur (Nagaland), Lengpui (Mizoram) and Pakyong (Sikkim).

With inputs from IANS