The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a resolution to rename Itanagar’s Hollongi Airport as the Donyi Polo Airport.

The resolution was passed by the Arunachal Pradesh government to rename the airport, which reflect the people’s reverence of the sun (‘Donyi’) and the moon (‘Polo’) to symbolise the traditions and rich cultural heritage of the State.

The Centre had granted the ‘in-principle’ approval for development of Hollongi Greenfield Airport in January 2019.

Development

The project is being developed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) with the help of the Centre and the government of Arunachal Pradesh at a cost of ₹646 crore, a statement from the Centre said.

With an area of 4,100 sq m, the terminal building of the airport will be able to handle 200 passengers during peak hours.

Presently, two airports, viz., Tezu and Passighat are operational in Arunachal Pradesh. While Donyi Polo Airport will be the third operational airport there taking the total airport count in the North-East region to 16.

Till 2014, there were 9 operational airports in the region. Aircraft movements have increased by 113 per cent, from 852 per week in the year 2014 to 1817 per week in 2022.

Areas of co-operation

Meanwhile, the Cabinet was apprised of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between India and Denmark on co-operation in the field of Water Resources Development and Management.

The broad areas of co-operation include digitalisation and ease of information access; integrated and smart water resources development and management; aquifer mapping, groundwater modelling, monitoring and recharge; sustainable water supply at household level and river and water body rejuvenation.

Other areas include water quality monitoring and management; sewage and waste-water treatment; climate change mitigation and adaptation and river centric urban planning including urban flood management.

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