Malkangiri: An airstrip project in Malkangiri is on the anvil. Odisha government has already initiated the process to chalk out a blueprint for the airstrip in the district, an official source informed Thursday.
According to the source, initially, Malkangiri district administration has plans to construct an airstrip on 13.233 hectare of land. Selection of a suitable patch of land for the purpose is underway.
The executive engineer of Malkangiri Public Works Department had earlier written a letter in this regard to collector Vishal Singh for land acquisition. Subsequently, the district administration had approached the deputy director-general of Ministry of Environment and Forests.
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Malkangiri district administration would carry out an afforestation drive in the days ahead as part of compensation for using forest land for the project after getting a nod from the state government.
Local tehsildar was previously asked to identify a patch of land for afforestation on 26.466 acre to compensate. The presently identified forest land will be converted to commercial category.
PNN