Vijayapura: Infrastructure Development Minister M. B. Patil who is also the District In-Charge Minister said on July 28 that the work related to the airport being built here is going forward speedily and the airport would be ready to be get launched by next April.
Addressing a press conference after examining the progress of the ongoing work by visiting the airport he informed that the civil works of the airport which is being built on 727 acres would be over by the coming December. Followed by the completion of civil works the process of getting the required clearances will take place, he explained.
“Earlier, the airport was planned for flight operations only during daytime. But, soon after assuming office as the Minister I took the initiative and instructed the concerned officials to include the night landing facility. Besides, the plan has been modified to facilitate the landing of jumbo-size airbuses,” Patil claimed.
To ensure the progress of work without being halted Rs. 50 Crore has been released two days ago and the airport would house all the facilities including the canteen, toilet similar to that of large airports, he told.
To facilitate the landing of jumbo-sized airbuses further acquisition of land to some extent is required and concerned officials have been directed to carry out the process, Patil added.
About the deployment of fire extinguisher vehicles, he said that two such vehicles need to be placed at the airport as per the DGCA norms. The equipment needed to enable the night landing facility will be procured soon. As the installation of these including the weather forecast equipment would need around Rs. 50 Crore, the project would finally cost nearly Rs. 400 Crore, he said.
Informing, Rs. 300 Crore has been released so far for the project he said that the Department of PWD has already applied for environmental clearance.
The multidisciplinary team of the Union Government has also been sought to examine the work and the team is likely to visit sometime during August, Minister said.
According to him, the works under package-1 at Rs. 222.92 Crore comprises road, peripheral road, apron, taxiway and approach road. The package-2 at Rs. 86.20 Crore includes the construction of a passenger terminal, ATC building, electricity substation, compound, watch tower and underground tank. Package-3 at Rs.19.30 Crore will be for electromechanical devices. In addition to this Rs.19.41 Crore has been incurred on power supply, survey among other things.
Minister also revealed that the Union Government has not provided funds for any new airports at Kalaburagi, Shivamogga, Hassan, and Vijayapura. “For all these projects the state Government has allocated funds and hence it is felt that it will be meaningless to handover these airports to the Airport Authority of India. The state Government is mulling on operating and maintaining new airports on its own,” he added.
He hoped that the new airport here would facilitate the export of commercial agro products including grapes and also foster tourism in the region.