Biju Patnaik's Dakota aircraft to be transported to Odisha soon from Kolkata
Bhubaneswar (PTI): The Odisha government is set to bring to the state the iconic Dakota aircraft of former chief minister Biju Patnaik from Kolkata, with the Airport Authority of India (AAI) having agreed to hand over 1.1 acre land on the premises of the airport here for the purpose.
Efforts to transport the aircraft to Odisha were made in the last two years, too, and tender was also floated for the initiative, but the COVID-19 outbreak stalled the plan, a senior official said.
“The administration is now all set to complete the process as the AAI, at its recent board meeting, accepted the state government's proposal to lease out 1.1 acre of land for setting up a memorial, where the aircraft will be put up for display,” the Home Department official said.
According to the official, the aircraft, which is 64 feet and 8 inches long, with its wings stretching to 95 feet, will be dismantled for transportation by road from the Kolkata airport to Bhubaneswar. The parts will then be reassembled here after necessary repairs, he explained.
Prasanna Pradhan, the director of Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA), said that the AAI has given its ‘go-ahead’ to build the memorial as a mark of tribute to the iconic leader. “The Dakota aircraft will be placed at the memorial for public viewing,” he said, adding that the plane has undergone much wear and tear over the years.
Historian Anil Dhir said that Patnaik was very fond of Dakota planes. “The former chief minister had used this aircraft, currently parked at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, to rescue then Indonesia's then Prime Minister Sutan Sjahrir and Vice-president Mohammad Hatta during a period of turmoil in the country in April 1947,” said Dhir.
A grateful Indonesia had twice decorated Biju Patnaik with its highest civilian honour ‘Bhumiputra’ for the feat, the historian added.
Patnaik, before joining active politics, had set up Kalinga Airlines that operated from Kolkata. The private airline operated nearly a dozen airplanes, including Dakotas.
Biju Patnaik, besides being a social reformer and politician, is known to have been a highly skilled pilot who flew planes and undertook high-risk missions ahead of the country's Independence.
The ace pilot, who is the father of Odisha's current Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, was also a member of the Royal Indian Air Force under British Rule. He clandestinely flew Indian freedom fighters from one location to another, the historian said.
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Will fight those who installed 'fake' Parashurama statue: Karkala Congress leader
Karkala: Town Municipality member and Congress spokesperson Shubhada Rao has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of duping citizens by installing a fibre glass statue of warrior-sage Parashurama at the new theme park in Karkala despite claiming that a bronze statue would be installed there.
Addressing a meeting held at the Bailuru Marigudi Hall on Saturday by the Karkala Parashurama Theme Park Welfare Committee demanding the installation of a bronze statue of the sage at the new park on the Umikal hills at Bailuru town, Rao clarified that the Congress had never opposed the development of the theme park or the installation of a statue of Parashurama at the park, but had expressed dissatisfaction at the BJP replacing the bronze statue meant to be used at the park with a fibre glass statue. He added that Congress aimed to unveil the truth regarding the statue.
Calling Karkala MLA Sunil Kumar's claims about the support of 65 legislators to him whom he could bring to the Parashurama hill as a bluff, Rao said that he would meet the legislator in Bengaluru itself with documentary proof to show that the statue was 'fake'. He also challenged Sunil Kumar to face the truth about the theme park.
A video containing information on the theme park, the statue, the correspondence between the government and the district administration as well as the gram panchayat, in addition to the court order was presented at the meeting.
