Jhansi:
Uttar Pradesh has prepared a blue print to expand and develop Jhansi airport to open up the backward Bundelkhand, a region straddling both Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, for tourism.
"Development of Jhansi as a regular airport would not only facilitate easy access to Khajuraho (150 km away in Madhya Pradesh), but also give boost to tourism in and around Jhansi, which is the nerve centre of Bundelkhand," a senior official of the state civil aviation department said here Friday.
According to Tourism Secretary Avanish Awasthi, "Jhansi is quite ideally located for tourists, both from Uttar Pradesh as well as Madhya Pradesh and commuting to places of tourist interest in the region would be certainly more convenient."
He said, "The existing airstrip (In Jhansi), that been there from the British days, was largely used for military purposes today".
Even though the clearance for development of Jhansi airstrip into a full-fledged airport was given by highest level in the state, the work is yet to commence.
"The task will begin with land acquisition, which itself is a long process. Therefore, it is rather difficult to say when the new airport would be ready," said a civil aviation department official.