Raipur. The long-awaited demand of the people of Surguja region is now going to be fulfilled. Tribal dominated area Surguja is going to be connected with air service. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will give this gift to the people of Surguja by virtually inaugurating Maa Mahamaya Airport Ambikapur on Sunday, October 20. By connecting with air service, lakhs of people of all the districts of Surguja division, Surguja, Jashpur, Surajpur, Balrampur, Korea, Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur district will get direct benefit. By connecting with air service, tourism, commercial activities will be promoted in Surguja division and employment opportunities for the people of the region will increase with the expansion of transportation facilities.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually inaugurate Maa Mahamaya Airport Ambikapur from Varanasi on October 20 at 4 pm.
Maa Mahamaya Airport Darima was included in the country’s air map like this-
According to the information received, works have been done at Maa Mahamaya Airport, Ambikapur at a cost of about 80 crores. Darima airstrip was constructed in the year 1950, it was initially built with WBM surface, whose length was 1200 meters. This airstrip is 13 km from Ambikapur city. It is built in Darima village at a distance of 365 acres. Its total area is 365 acres and this airstrip is located at an altitude of 1924 feet above sea level.
Administrative approval of Rs 46.27 crore was issued to the Public Works Department for the development of the airport, under which the Public Works Department started the upgradation work in accordance with 3 CVFR from December 2021. The Public Works Department completed the work in April 2023 and applied for the license, under which it was inspected by the DGCA in May 2023. After inspection and completing all the formalities, the Aerodrome License was issued by DGCA on 15 March 2024. The length of the runway was increased from 1500 m to 1800 m.
The airport will be equipped with these technologies-
The length of the runway was increased from 1500 m to 1800 m. For strengthening the runway, PCN was increased to 25 which was made in accordance with ATR 72. The new apron was made 110 m. × 127 m. which is suitable for parking 2 ATR 72 aircraft simultaneously. Along with this, isolation way, RESA on both sides and two taxi-ways of 25 × 150 meters have been constructed. Along with this, the asphalting work of the perimeter road and other approach roads was done. The height of the boundary wall was increased from 1.5 meters to 3.2 meters in the entire area of about 8 km. All internal routes were tarred and road furnishing and marking work was done. The terminal building was upgraded to accommodate 72 passengers from 20. ATC office, MET office, ACCR room, fire store, electrical panel room and other infrastructure works have been done.
Major tourist and religious places of Surguja region-
There are immense possibilities of tourism in Surguja region. Starting of air service will undoubtedly promote tourism in this region and create new employment opportunities. Famous tourist places of Surguja region include Rajarani Temple, Baba Bamleshwar Temple, Surguja Palace, Kailash Caves, Chirmiri full of natural beauty, historical and famous temple Ratanpur, Jogimara, Sitabengra and Laxman Cave located in Ramgarh and Shimla Mainpat of Chhattisgarh. Major religious places of Surguja region include many Jain temples, Baba Bhim Temple, Ram Temple, Mahamaya Temple and Buddhist temple located in Mainpat.
