Minister for Public Works K. Lakshminarayanan on Thursday said the government respects the sentiments of people who could be affected due to expansion of airport but the project will not be abandoned as it involved the larger interests of society and the Union Territory.
“We respect the sentiments of people and they have every right to raise their concerns. They met me and I listened to their concerns. But as a government, we have to work for the larger public good and the Union Territory. The project will immensely benefit the people of the Union Territory. The expansion of runway will pave way for tourism growth and the spinoff impact will be on government revenue which ultimately benefits a large section of our population, “ he told The Hindu.
The government can give an assurance on the compensation part of land acquisition. “A person losing a house or property will be able to build at least houses and buy two properties. The compensation will be huge and there will not be any delay in payment. We cannot sacrifice a project that will have huge impact on the development of the Union Territory,” he said.
Mr. Lakshminarayanan said the Centre was keen on development of the airport. There had been several communications between the Centre and the Union Territory in the recent months. The Airports Authority of India was in the process of preparing a detailed project report. The area and properties that have to be acquired have already been identified, he added.
