In a setback to several organisations, individuals and political parties who are batting for renaming of the Belagavi Airport, the Union government has stated that it has not received any proposal from the state government on the matter.
A question was raised by us through RTI (Right to Information) asking the what is the status of renaming Belagavi Airport and what name did government of Karnataka has finlised and sent for the approval.
However reply for this question was quite surprising. In so far as the CPIO, AAI Section is concerned, it is informed that for renaming of airports, a general practice is followed, in which, the airports are known by the name of city where they are located, unless another specific name is proposed by the respective State Government supported by a Resolution passed in the State Legislative Assembly, which is then sent to Union Cabinet for final approval. In the instant case, no proposal has been received for renaming the airport as on date.
But as per the information, following demands have been made by local representatives and organisations, but seems no collective support shown in order to decide the final name.
23 December 2018 : Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Saturday wrote a letter to then Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu requesting him to rename Belagavi Airport as Kittur Rani Chennamma Airport and Hubballi Airport as Sangolli Rayanna Airport
07 January 2020 : The State Infrastructure Development Department (IDD) has written to the deputy commissioners (DCs) under whom the five airports (Belagavi, Hubballi, Kalaburagi, Mysuru, Mangaluru) fall , asking them to immediately provide information on influential historical personalities from their region.
Then Union minister of state for railways late Shri Suresh Angadi on 6th January 2020 wrote to Deputy Commissioner of Belagavi regarding renaming of Belagavi Airpirt as Veer Rani Kittur Chennamma Airport, Belagavi.
Kittur Rani Chennamma led an armed rebellion against the British East India Company in 1824 in defiance of the Doctrine of Lapse in an attempt to maintain Indian control over the region.
