Putting to rest the doubts on the construction of the greenfield international airport at Bhogapuram, YSRCP MP V. Vijaya Sai Reddy has said that the works will begin by the end of this year.
Speaking to The Hindu on Monday, he said that except for one, all other writ petitions filed against the construction of the airport had been withdrawn by the petitioners.
“We are expecting the last one to be withdrawn in the next 15 to 20 days. Once it is over, it is just a matter of few days for the works to begin,” said Mr. Vijaya Sai.
He also confirmed that once the new airport came up at Bhogapuram, the one on the INS Dega will become a full-fledged defence (Naval) airbase. The INS Dega has about 208 acres of land, of which 124 acres will be retained by the Navy and the rest will be under the district administration.
Six-lane road
Mr. Vijaya Sai also said that the six-lane road proposed from Visakhapatnam to Bhogapuram would also be completed to improve the connectivity.
This six-lane road will have a width of about 70 metre, with a jogging or walking track on one side and a cycling track on the other.
The total length of the road will be about 40 km. Plans are afoot to line both sides of the road with coconut trees, he said.
“Apart from this, the State government is planning to lay an elevated highway from the Visakhapatnam Port to Kailasagiri,” said Mr. Vijaya Sai. This will be a six-lane road sans pathway and cycling track. It is proposed to have a width of about 45 metre. This road will be connected to the 70-metre six-lane road to Bhogapuram near Kailasagiri.
“The idea is to connect the port with the airport and a proposal with an estimate of ₹1,200 crore have been sent to the Union Ministry for Road Transport and Highways,”he said.
