Jewar dresses up for ‘airport carnival’ today

JEWAR: First-time visitors to Jewar – and there are likely to be several thousand at the very least – need not worry about directions on Thursday. The latest addition to the country’s aviation map, the Noida International Airport (NIA), whose foundation stone will be laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is dressed up for its ‘airport carnival’.
The road leading to the airport launch site, where a giant stage for the main event now stands, has been given a complete makeover. More than 3,000 hoardings and banners with photographs of Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath have been put up on the main road leading up to the venue. Posters highlighting the state government’s achievements can also be seen across the entire stretch between Yamuna Expressway and the launch site.

On Wednesday, Jewar was abuzz with visitors as well as security personnel and government officials busy giving final touches to the venue that is going to host a bevy of dignitaries. Besides political workers and local residents, thousands of security personnel from various parts of western UP were present at the site for the briefing.
With a few hours to go before the launch ceremony, Special Protection Group additional director general Alok Sharma supervised the arrangements for about 1,200-1,500 VIPs who will converge in Jewar from all over the state and other parts of NCR. UP ADG (security) Binod Kumar Singh and GB Nagar police commissioner Alok Singh also took notes of the minutest details of the security arrangements. At least two lakh people are expected to attend the event.
The Prime Minister and the chief minister will both arrive at the venue in helicopters, said officials. Modi is expected to join the event around 12.50pm and leave at 2.30pm. Officials also said that entry to the main dais, where the PM will preside over the launch ceremony, will be allowed only from the back stage. Though the final seating plan of the dais has not been shared with the media, it is expected that almost three dozen invitees will occupy the main stage.
A 30-metre-wide LED screen has been set up at the dais to showcase the proceedings of the event. Three videos covering the journey so far and key features of the airport will also be relayed. Officials said that folk dancers and a troupe will present the Braj culture of Mathura and Vrindavan before the audience.
S P Goyal, additional chief secretary principal to the CM, said, “We are extremely confident that the project is going to be successful. We will present the hard work of the state government before the audience on Thursday. Our future plans pertaining to the connectivity and accessibility via the airport in Jewar will also be shown.”
Spread over 1,330 acres, the greenfield airport at Jewar is expected to be operational by October 2024. Swiss airport major Zurich AG, the concessionaire, has committed to delivering Phase 1 of NIA within three years. This phase will see a runway and a terminal with a capacity of handling 1.2 crore passengers annually.
In the second phase, a runway and a terminal building will be added that will take the airport to its eventual capacity of 7 crore passengers annually.
The Jewar airport will be the second international airport to come up in Delhi-NCR and is expected to decongest the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the national capital. It is strategically located to serve cities like Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Aligarh, Agra, Faridabad and neighbouring areas.