Amidst reports that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) requested the State Government to expand Coimbatore International Airport by acquiring 365 acres, the Revenue Department said that it was sticking to the initial plan of acquiring 627.89 acres.
On behalf of the Revenue Department, the Coimbatore District Collector recently sent a letter to the Transport Department which proposed to acquire 627.89 acres, said a senior official who is in the know of the developments.
“The AAI is said to have come forward with two proposals, acquiring 468 acres or 365 acres, going away from the original plan. But these two proposals will not help expand the airport with a futuristic approach. Hence, the Revenue Department has stuck to acquire 627.89 acres,” said the official.
According to the official, immediate acquisition of 365 acres will be enough to construct buildings under the expansion plan for the airport. The land will not be sufficient to expand the runway. Though 468 acres will be sufficient to expand the runway, to enable the landing of wide bodied aircraft, the Revenue Department has decided to go ahead with its initial plan of acquiring 627.89 acres to facilitate expansion works in the future.
S.P. Velumani, Minister for Municipal Administration and Rural Development, had told The Hindu earlier in February that he called on Minister for Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu in Delhi to press the need to acquire 627.89 acres.
The total area of 627.89 acres identified for acquisition is spread over 24 blocks in four villages.
The government in November last year had announced first instalment of ₹75 crore for acquiring land belonging to 68 land owners coming under the 7th block. However, the compensation is yet to be disbursed as documents of 20 land owners had some issues to be sorted out.
After the 7th block, the Revenue Department will consider acquiring lands coming under blocks 1, 3, 11, 12 and 20. Of these, 20th block is categorised as agricultural land.
Around ₹900 crore will be required to acquire lands coming under these five blocks.
Of the total area of 627.89 acres, the Revenue Department anticipates difficulty in acquiring 120 acres.
The compensation fixed by the government was ₹1,500 per sq.ft. for residential areas and ₹ 900 per sq.ft. for agricultural plots.
