Supriya Sule meets Aviation Minister Puri over water aerodrome project at Ujjani

Mar 18,2021

Baramati MP Supriya Sule has proposed to develop a water aerodrome project at Ujjani reservoir, under the Civil Aviation Ministry’s UDAN- Regional Connectivity Scheme. Sule met Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday and requested him to extend the proposed water aerodrome project to Ujjani, considering the strategic location and suitability of the reservoir. Ujjani, a dam over Bhima River, is located near the border of Pune and Solapur districts.

In a letter handed to Puri, Sule said that Ujjani reservoir was located at the junction of Ahmednagar, Sholapur and Pune Districts; and it is over 125 kms away from the nearest commercial airport at Lohegaon in Pune City.

The water aerodrome would provide proximate air-connectivity for the devotes of Vitthal-Rukmini Temple in Pandharpur, and also for the nearly 10 lakh people living in within 50 kilometers of the proposed water aerodrome.

“Due to the relatively high levels of income of the residents in the region, I believe that commercial fight operations would find sufficient number of passengers throughout the year,” said Sule.

The Ujjani water aerodrome could be connected to existing and proposed water aerodromes in Goa, Thane Creek, Sabarmati Waterfront and Sardar Sarovar Dam, Sule said. It could also be connected to airports in major cities in Maharashtra such as Mumbai, Nashik, Kolhapur and Aurangabad, she added. Ujjani reservoir has sufficient water depth and low wind velocity throughout the year.

“The reservoir is Z shaped and therefore there are possibly two to three alignments for take off and landing that would ensure sufficient distance from Bhigwan Bird Sanctuary, as per the norms,” said Sule.

A water aerodrome is an area of open water that can be used by seaplanes as well as amphibious aircraft to land and take off. Moreover, depending on the volume of traffic, water aerodromes may have a terminal building on the shore or on a jetty where planes can dock, and bays where they can be parked. The water dromes are present in some island nations, especially in the richer ones like the British Virgin Islands. Also, there are few in Canada, including Yellowknife on the Great Slave Lake, Tofino on Vancouver Island and Whitehorse on Schwatka Lake.