Bastar, June 14: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to inaugurate the newly-constructed Jagdalpur Airport in Bastar on Thursday. The Prime Minister will inaugurate the airport via video conferencing during his visit to Bhilai on the same day. The air service will connect the tribal region of Bastar to Raipur and Vishakhapatnam.

All the arrangements for the live telecast of the event have been made at Jagdalpur, the divisional headquarters of Bastar. With this,  Bastar will make a place for itself in the aviation map of India with the beginning of Raipur-Jagdalpur-Vishakhapatnam air service on June 14.

The most interesting part about the launch is that the first flight taking off from Jagdalpur will have onboard visually impaired student Guruwari. Guruwari, while expressing happiness said she is elated that she had never dreamt that one day, she will travel in an aeroplane.  "I will travel by plane, never even dreamed of it", she was quoted by ANI.

The Prime Minister will be on a one-day visit to Chhattisgarh on Thursday where he will dedicate the modernised and expanded Bhilai steel plant to the nation. According to a PTI report, the Prime Minister will inaugurate the Integrated Command and Control Centre at Naya Raipur.

Thereafter, in Bhilai, he will inaugurate Raipur-Jagdalpur air service, lay a foundation stone for the new building of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bhilai, besides dedicating to the nation the expanded and modernised Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) of SAIL.

According to a report by TOI, Jagdalpur airport director Kishore Bhowmick informed that the flight from Raipur to Jagdalpur will leave at 08:05 am and reach its destination at 08:55 am. The flight will leave Jagdalpur at 09:05 am to reach Vishakhapatnam at 09:50 am.

For the unversed, this will be Modi’s second visit to the poll-bound state in the last two months.  Reports inform that the Prime Minister will also take part in programmes in Naya Raipur—the upcoming capital city of the state.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 14, 2018 12:12 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).