Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath urged the Centre to expedite the process of setting up airports in Ayodhya, Chitrakoot and Myorpur in Sonbhadra so that these cities could be brought in the air connectivity map.
“The state government followed all directives of the Union government for setting up of airports in Ayodhya, Chitrakoot and Sonbhadra as air connectivity would bring prosperity to these areas,” Yogi said during a virtual meeting with Union Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday.
Yogi said that when the Bharatiya Janata Party took charge of Uttar Pradesh in 2017, the state had only two airports and their number had now increased to seven operational airports while work was in progress on 17 other airports.
“The UP government is assisting the Union government in setting up airports in far-flung areas of the state. The state feels that if airports are constructed in Ayodhya, Chitrakoot and Sonbhadra, it would provide economic impetus to these regions,” he said.
Yogi also appealed to the Union minister to speed up work in Bareilly, Hindon, Saharanpur, Lucknow, Meerut and Varanasi.
“Airports in Bareilly, Hindon, Saharanpur and Meerut will improve connectivity, thereby helping the local people,” he said.
Puri said that Ayodhya and Chitrakoot had religious importance and therefore good connectivity would improve tourism there. Similarly, he said, tourism possibilities were also encouraging in Sonbhadra.
“The Union government in collaboration with the UP government and working to complete the work in a time-bound manner,” he said.
The chief minister was informed that work was underway on establishing air service between Bareilly and Saharanpur while work would start in Hindon and Meerut after getting Central approval.
District magistrates of Ayodhya, Sonbhadra and Chitrakoot also participated in the virtual meeting.