The State government has released ₹110 crore for fresh land acquisition in the Bhogapuram airport areas as it has to construct an approach road providing connectivity to the National Highway. Although the government acquired 2,700 acres of land two years ago for the project, the same was not done for the approach road. The distance between the actual airport area and NH-26 is around 5 km.
The long and wide approach road is necessary for free movement of vehicles between the National Highway and the proposed airport.
Vizianagaram District Joint Collector G.C. Kishore Kumar is holding a series of meetings with officials and representatives of farmers to overcome hurdles in land acquisition. Mr. Kishore Kumar said that response from villagers was positive and compensation would be credited to their accounts very shortly.
Ashok’s demand
Meanwhile, former Union Minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju has asked the government to utilise the entire 2,700 acres of land for the purpose of international airport. He objected to allocation of only 2,200 acres of land for the airport and utilisation of remaining 500 acres for industrial needs.
“In the backdrop of the Kozhikode plane crash in Kerala, the Andhra Pradesh government should not compromise on safety norms. It should utilise all the acquired land for aviation needs only. Directorate-General of Civil Aviation and other organisations should give necessary directions to the government in this regard,” said Mr. Ashok in a press release.
