Comilla airport left abandoned for 36 yrs
Tuesday, 2 April 2013
COMILLA, Apr 1 (UNB): The Comilla airport has been left abandoned for the last 36 years, coming not the least to the actual use for which it came into being.
The runway of the airport is now being used as training ground for drivers of private cars and riders of motorbikes.
Locals said if the airport could be made operational, foreign investment in the nearby Comilla Export Processing Zone (EPZ) would rise by far opening up employment opportunity for many people and thus adding a new dimension to the district's economy.
The Comilla airport was built on 77 acres of land during the World War II.
Since then, flights operated on domestic routes from the airport but it was stopped in 1976 for an unknown reason.
The facility is now being used for signaling purpose of international routes, which fetches an income of Tk25 lakh per month.
Recently, equipment worth Tk 8.00 crore has been installed in the airport having manpower of 25.
Comilla Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Masud Parvez Khan Imran said it is the demand of the time to make the airport operational to draw more foreign investment to the Comilla EPZ which is adjacent to the airport.
Comilla Shop Owners' Association leader Shah Mohammad Alamgir Khan said being between Dhaka and Chittagong, Comilla is to be considered as one of the best places for business.
It is important to make the airport operational for expansion of trade and businesses, he added.
Comilla Bar Association's former president Zahirul Islam Selim said there is often traffic jam on the Dhaka -Chittagong Highway and for that reason foreign investors do not want to come to Comilla. If the airport is made operational again, it would increase investment in the EPZ, he opined.
Besides, patients would get emergency medical services by using the airport.
Comilla airport manager Abudl Gani said there are all types of equipment in the airport and now only what is necessary is renovation of its runway to press back it into service.
Recently, Railway Minister Mujibul Haque visited the airport and assured that the airport would be made operational during the tenure of the present government.