Senior citizens, social activists, intellectuals, and scribes celebrated the Utkal Divas on Thursday at different places in Brahmapur. The Joint Action Committee (JAC) for establishment of a domestic airport at Brahmapur also held a meeting to mark the occasion.
The members of the JAC led by its convener Rajendra Panda and joint convener and social worker Abani Gaya resorted to peaceful dharana near the statue of Utkalmani Gopabandhu Das in Giri Road in the morning. Soon after celebrating Utkal Divas, the members of JAC renewed their demand once again for establishment of a state- of- art domestic airport.
The speakers expressed their serious concern for the step-motherly attitude and negligence against Ganjam district by the successive Governments in power since long. In spite of strikes, road blocks, demonstrations, street corner meetings, post card campaigns and memorandums by the public, both the State and Union Governments have paid deaf ears to the demand.
More significantly, the State Government is yet to submit a comprehensive and realistic proposal along with identification of required patch of land to the Center, the JAC members alleged.
The speakers also said that they were expecting from the Chief Minister to declare establishment of airport at Brahmapur on the day of the Utkal Divas as a token of his love for the people of Brahmapur but that did not happen.
The members demanded that, the State Government should immediately send the proposal to the Center for the project. The Utkal Divas was also celebrated by the Bharatiya Bikash Parishad, Ganjam Zilla Baristha Kalakar Manch and Manch Jyoti.