Journalism of Courage
The land acquisition for Pune international airport is already 65 per cent complete and there will be minimum displacement of villagers. The state government gave the green signal for the Khed Special Economic Zone site for the airport after six years and after assessing nearly eight sites.
The obstacle-free land at the approach and take-off path,a large portion of acquired land for SEZ and the area meeting optimum airport requirements with two independent parallel runway operations made it a very feasible option, said Tanaji Satre,Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Maharashtra Airport Development Company.
While the Chakan site was earlier announced as the airport site,the large-scale land acquisition and displacement of families had proved to be an impediment. The fact that the land was close to Bhama river and required levelling a hill had forced the officials to look out for other options.
The aiport needs 1,268 hectares of land,of which 65 per cent has already been acquired. Nearly 1,500 hectares was needed at the Chakan site. There were two high-tension lines which had to be shifted. But in the present site,only four towers need to be shifted, said MADC officials.
Concerned villagers and resistance from farmers in Chakan was another issue that forced the administration to look for an alternative site. In the Chakan site,six villages and 1,000 families would have been displaced. In the present site,only four hamlets and 180 families will have to be relocated, said the officials.
Chakan sites proximity to river was a major issue. In the Chakan area,most of the land was irrigated land. In the case of the present site,it is largely barren and will see minimum resistance from farmers. There is no need for hill cutting for the approach too, stated a report. The present AAI masterplan requries a plot of land,6.34 km X 2 km. This was not available at the Chakan site.
