Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated Arunachal Pradesh’s first greenfield airport, the Donyi Polo Airport at Hollongi near here amidst a mammoth gathering of more than ten thousand people, who came to witness the historic event and said that the government of India is dedicated to serve the North East and bring about all round development to the region.

He said, “with the inauguration of the first greenfield airport, North-East is witnessing a dawn of new hopes and opportunities”, adding, “Donyi Polo Airport is the 4th operational airport of Arunachal Pradesh and within 8 years period, the government has constructed seven new airports which have improved connectivity.

Modi, who laid the foundation stone of the greenfield airport on February 2019, said that the airport would boost connectivity, trade, and tourism in the hilly northeastern state.

The airport located at Hollongi, about 25 km away from the state capital Itanagar will connect the state with other major cities of the country with commercial flights and other parts of the state through helicopter services. Spread across 694 acres of land, the airport has been developed at a cost of Rs 645 crores and has a Terminal area of 2000 Sq meters, a Runway of 2300 meters x 45 meters, Aircraft Parking Stands for three A-320 types of aircraft, and separate parking for four helicopters, besides the airport has four check-in-counters and peak hour serving capacity of 300 passengers. 

The Prime Minister also dedicated the 600 MW Kameng Hydropower station to the nation on the day. The Kameng hydropower station situated in West Kameng district is the largest operating hydropower plant in the North Eastern Region developed with an investment of Rs 8459 crore.

Addressing the occasion, the Prime Minister said that “connectivity and energy infrastructure will bring a new dawn of development for the northeastern region,” adding “it is expected to make Arunachal Pradesh a power-surplus state and benefit the national grid in terms of stability and integration”.

Lauding the state government for the timely completion of the project, the PM said that his government has ensured the timely completion of all the undertaken development projects and praised the commitment of the people to the development of the state. The huge gathering on the day shows effective and timely implementations of government policies and programmes, he stated.

While noting that the Northeast region faced indifference and neglect earlier, he said during the NDA govt led by the late AB Vajpayee, attention had been given to the region and created a separate ministry for the Northeast, adding that only after 2014, a new chapter of development began. Modi said, “earlier, remote border villages were treated as the last village, but now our government considers the villages in the border areas as the first village of the country”, and as such the development of the Northeast has become a priority for the government.

 “Be it tourism or trade, telecom or textiles, North East gets top priority”, the PM stated, adding further, “be it drone technology or Krishi UDAAN, be it airport connectivity or port connectivity, the government has set the priority of development on North East. Highlighting development initiatives for North East, he made mention of the longest bridge in India, the longest railroad bridge, rail line connectivity, and construction of highways in the region.

Reiterating his stand on “Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas”, Modi said that the double engine government is committed to facilitating ease of living to all sections of society and is dedicated to the cause of poor people.  

Highlighting some govt’s flagship programs implemented for the welfare of the poor and downtrodden, he said that farmers are benefiting from PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, while under PM Gram Sadak Yojana, 85 percent of the rural areas are covered and informed that the government is providing insurance cover up to 5 lakhs under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme. He also touched upon Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna, Model Eklavya Schools, and the Arunachal Startup policy. Pointing on the Sowbhagya Yojna – electricity for all scheme that started in 2014, the Prime Minister informed that many villages in Arunachal Pradesh got electricity for the first time after independence. In his speech, Modi also advocated bamboo cultivation, its value addition, and marketing.

“The govt is working on mission mode to carry the development forward to every house and village in the state”, Modi informed and highlighted the govt’s efforts to develop all the border villages under the ‘Vibrant Border Village Programme’ which would boost tourism and check migration from border areas. He also informed about a special programme being carried out to connect the youths of the nation with NCC which will instill a feeling to serve the nation apart from providing defence training to them.

On the occasion, the Prime Minister launched a UDAN Coffee-Table book on govt’s regional connectivity scheme UDAN – ‘Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik’ with an objective to connect small and medium cities with big cities through air service.

Earlier, soon after his landing at Donyi Polo Airport, the Prime Minister was briefed about the airport and later he took off to Kashi straight after the inaugural programme.

Union MoS Law & Justice Kiren Rijiju, while welcoming the Prime Minister termed the moment historic. He said that the long felt dream of having its own airport has been fulfilled today because of the effort of the PM, adding that “this would further change the development scenario in the state”.

In his speech, Chief Minister Pema Khandu expressed his gratefulness to the Prime Minister for making the dream project into reality, stating “history is been created and written”. He was optimistic that the increase in flight connectivity would boost the economic activities and tourism in the state.

Besides, Rijiju and Khandu, Governor Brig. (Dr) B.D Mishra (Rtd), Lok Sabha MP Tapir Gao, Rajya Sabha MP Nabam Rebia, and Doimukh legislator Tana Heli Tara shared the dais with the Prime Minister.

Other highlights of the event included the presentation of the welcome song “Hamara Arunachal” by RGU students and the chanting of prayers seeking divine blessings by Nyishi Nyibus.

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