New airport being planned at Nuzvid, Bapulapadu?

Report on land acquisition for Gannavaram airport has been sent to the Centre

At a time when the expansion of Gannavaram airport has hit a roadblock owing to the problems in acquiring the necessary land, speculation is rife that the government is planning to develop a new international airport either at Nuzvid or Bapulapadu.

Elected representatives, including Vijayawada MP Kesineni Srinivas (Nani) met the officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and discussed the measures to be taken for developing the airport on par with international standards.

However, land acquisition is turning out be a hindrance for the Krishna district administration, with several farmers and other land owners strongly opposing the government’s move.

R&R package

It is learnt that the property owners are requesting the government to exempt their land and look for an alternative site for the project. A senior revenue official said that a detailed report had already been sent to the Centre and the State government a few days ago. “We are waiting for the government’s response on the Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R& R) package to be given to the affected families. We need Rs.160 crore for the R& R package to cover more than 180 families that will be displaced during land acquisition process,” the official explained.

Guidelines

Another factor contributing to the delay is that the administration has to receive guidelines from the government on acquiring land as per the new Land Acquisition Act. “If these two issues are addressed, then we will be able to complete the process at the earliest and hand over land to the AAI for taking up the expansion works,” the official said. However, he did not comment on reports that the government had identified an alternative site at Nuzvid or Bapulapadu for the new airport.

Airport officials recalled that the State government had entered into an agreement with the Ministry of Civil Aviation in 2007 assuring to provide 492 acres abutting the airport at Ajampudi, Buddhavaram, Gannavaram and Kesarapalli villages.

A joint survey by the Krishna district administration and airport officials was also conducted, but apparently nothing concrete has been done so far to hand over the land.

Airport Director B.G. Patil exuded confidence that the new government would take concrete steps to hand over the land to enable the AAI to take up expansion works at Gannavaram in the wake of increasing flight movements at the airport.