June 18th 2024.
In the town of Gopalpur, located in the Ganjam district, plans for expanding the Rangeilunda airstrip have been stagnant due to the negligence of the Union government. This airstrip, which dates back to the British era, was supposed to be included in the UDAN scheme by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre. However, despite these efforts, it seems that flights will not be operating here anytime soon as the expansion of the runway is currently on hold. For now, the airstrip only allows for small flights and helicopters to take off and land.
Unfortunately, the fate of the airstrip remains uncertain and no one knows when the expansion work will resume. About a year ago, a private company had launched a small-scale flight service between Bhubaneswar and Rangeilunda. On the first day of the service, BJD leaders even took the inaugural flight and upon their arrival in Bhubaneswar, thanked the state government for their support. However, due to high ticket prices and a lack of enough passengers, the flight service was soon discontinued.
In an effort to revive the airstrip, the district administration began working on expanding the runway last year. However, the project was quickly abandoned due to a shortage of available government land. The inflated prices of private lands made it impossible to acquire more land for the project. The Rangeilunda airstrip, which is located on the premises of Berhampur University, falls under the Gopalpur Assembly constituency and the Berhampur Lok Sabha segment.
Recently, the newly elected Berhampur MP, Pradip Panigrahy from the BJP, has been appointed as the Minister of Gopalpur Assembly constituency in the first BJP government in the state. As a result, the local community has been urging for the intervention of these two leaders to revive and expand the airstrip. According to sources, the Rangeilunda airstrip meets all the necessary criteria for expansion, especially since the beautiful Gopalpur beach, a major tourist attraction in south Odisha, is located nearby.
Additionally, other important facilities such as the Gopalpur port, Indian Rare Earths Ltd under the Union Ministry of Atomic Energy, a military cantonment, several universities, a medical college and hospital, and various educational institutes are all in close proximity to Berhampur and Gopalpur. As the main commercial hub in south Odisha, Berhampur is often visited by traders and business people who have to travel to Bhubaneswar or Vishakhapatnam to catch flights to their destinations due to the lack of an airport in the area. Therefore, the residents have been advocating for the expansion and revival of the Rangeilunda airstrip for quite some time.
Interestingly, in 2014, Ashok Gajapathi Raju from TDP, who was the Vizianagaram MP at the time, became the Civil Aviation Minister in the Modi-led NDA government. During a visit to Berhampur on June 14, 2016, to attend a program celebrating the first victory of the Modi government, Raju was met by many local residents, BJP leaders, and members of various organizations who submitted a memorandum requesting the expansion of the Rangeilunda airstrip. At the time, Raju assured them that steps would be taken to fulfill their request. However, eight years have passed and the promise made by the former Union minister remains unfulfilled.
The current Berhampur MP, who was elected as the MLA of Gopalpur three times between 2009 and 2019 and also served as a minister in the state government, has not taken any steps towards the expansion of the airstrip. Instead, he made it a topic during his election campaign and criticized the state government before the 2024 elections. As the people eagerly wait to see what actions Panigrahy will take for the airstrip, given his newly appointed role as the BJP MP from Berhampur, it remains to be seen if the expansion of the Rangeilunda airstrip will finally become a reality.
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