Mass urban migration is one of the major issues which India has been facing for a long time now. The reason behind it is a lack of opportunities in smaller cities prompting people to move out of their hometowns to metros. This has created a sort of imbalance with bigger cities being overly exploited and the potential of tier II and tier III cities being grossly untapped. Development is also directly linked with how connected these cities and towns are with other parts of the country and the world. There are multinational companies which are looking for an alternate location but poor flight connectivity stops them them from coming to these cities.
Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh and also one of the cultural hubs of the country, is one of the major tier II cities which is facing this issue. Even as it has a functional airport, which has a daily movement of just 16 flights inbound and outbound to cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Raipur and Lucknow, as far the international connectivity is considered, there are just Hajj flights to Jeddah.
This problem of connectivity has been persistent for a very long time. Even before when the Airport Authority of India embarked on modernizing airports in tier II cities, a new airport terminal at the Raja Bhoj Airport in Bhopal was constructed. However, even after these many years that infrastructure remains unused.
Many of the frequent travellers take carted bus to Indore to catch the flight. Bhopal airport is quipped with required infrastructure , Government has spent 1000 cr to build this new airport 7 year back. However as on today only 8 flights are there from Bhopal. Many activist from Bhopal has come together to support the cause, They have also met the MP Alok Sanjar to brief the situation and statistics. The tourism industry will also flourish if flight connectivity improves.
Urban migration is a grave issue and one of the reasons behind is poor connectivity to smaller cities and towns. Bhopal being centrally located and capital of one of the largest states of India is still suffering due to this. We hope that the considered authorities take due cognisance of this matter and address this issue