Adityanath said that when his government had come to power for the first time in 2017 there were just two fully-functional airports in the state —Lucknow and Varanasi. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav) With the state’s civil aviation department signing a lease agreement with Airports Authority of India (AAI) for transfer of 318 acres of land for the upcoming Maryada Purshottam Shri Ram International Airport in Ayodhya district, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday directed officials to ensure that the airport becomes functional by the time the construction of the Ram temple is completed next year.
Comparing the airport to Ramayan’s ‘pushpak viman’ — a mythical flying carriage that carried Ram and Sita when they returned to Ayodhya from Lanka — Adityanath said, “Lord Ram returned from Lanka on pushpak viman. By 2023, the construction of the grand Ram temple in Ayodhya would be complete. Lord Ram would then shift into his own temple.”
Taking a dig at the Opposition, the chief minister said that when the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in the state in 2017, there were only two functional airports in Uttar Pradesh — in Lucknow and Varanasi.
He said that with the new airport in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh would be the only state in the country to have five international airports and 19 airports in total.
“The land required for the first phase of construction has already been made available to the AAI, the remaining 86 acres would also be made available within two months,” said the chief minister.
Talking about how the day of signing of the lease agreement was an auspicious one as it falls during the Navratra, Adityanath said, “The sentiments of every citizen of the country are linked with Ayodhya, who see it as an auspicious place. Today marks the auspicious beginning of the development of the international airport in Ayodhya which will be dedicated to Lord Ram.” he added.
Referring to Uttar Pradesh’s achievement of recording the fastest improvement in air connectivity across the country over the past five years, he said the credit for the feat goes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of making air travel available for every common citizen, even those wearing ‘hawai’ (rubber) slippers.
He directed officials to ensure that the airport construction progresses in a time-bound manner and that the first phase of construction is completed by the time “Ram Lalla enters his temple”.
The construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya has set the ball rolling for a slew of developmental projects in the district that aim to turn it into a ‘model town’ by 2024 and become a world-class tourist destination.
These projects include the announcement of the ‘84 Kosi Parikrama Marg’ as a national highway, the widening of roads and the construction of highways.
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