In 6 days, consent documents collected for 50% of 2,800 acres required for Purandar airport project in Pune
To speed up land acquisition for Purandar airport, farmers who willingly give consent would be given 10% of the land acquired from them as developed parcels within Aerocity, besides financial compensation.
Farmers who consent to have their land acquired for the construction of the Purandar airport can do so either at the collector’s office or at the sub-divisional office in Purandar. (FB)
Six days after the Pune district collectorate started collecting land acquisition consent documents for the proposed Purandar international airport project in Pune, over 1,100 farmers have submitted the same, pertaining to 50 per cent of the 2,800 acres required, officials said.
District Collector Jitendra Dudi has announced that farmers who consent to have their land acquired for the construction of the Purandar airport can do so either at the collector’s office or at the sub-divisional office in Purandar. Farmers who willingly give their consent would be given 10 per cent of the land acquired within Aerocity as developed land parcels, along with the compensation due to them. This was done to accelerate the process of land acquisition.
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Officials said land parcels over 1,300 gats are to be acquired for the airport’s construction. Gat refers to land parcels that have multiple ownership. The 7/12 land records would provide the exact number of land owners whose consent has been obtained. Earlier, the district authorities, along with the offices of the District Superintendent of Land Records had carried out special drives to confirm that the claimants of land are able to ensure that their land records are up to date. Once the land records are updated, the consent is recorded.
Over the last year, the district collectorate has been working at various levels to ensure the work for acquisition happens smoothly. Measures like contacting the land owners personally, and forming special teams to deal with doubts and protests, have been carried out to push for early completion of the project.
As almost 50 per cent of the land earmarked for the airport has now been acquired, district authorities hope the rest will be acquired smoothly which will allow them to proceed with further steps. Though land is being acquired from seven villages for the project, most of the project falls under the village of Pargaon which had vehemently protested against the acquisition.
The demand for an international airport in Pune has been raised for many decades now. The present airport in Lohegaon has reached its capacity, which has severely constrained operations. Since it is also owned by the Air Force, security concerns mean that there is a cap on the number of flights that can operate from there.
During his first term as Maharashtra chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis had in 2016 cleared the proposal for the construction of the airport in Pune district’s Purandar taluka. Though it got stalled later, the project has picked up pace since Fadnavis’s return as Chief Minister.
Partha Sarathi Biwas is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express with 10+ years of experience in reporting on Agriculture, Commodities and Developmental issues. He has been with The Indian Express since 2011 and earlier worked with DNA. Partha's report about Farmers Producer Companies (FPC) as well long pieces on various agricultural issues have been cited by various academic publications including those published by the Government of India. He is often invited as a visiting faculty to various schools of journalism to talk about development journalism and rural reporting. In his spare time Partha trains for marathons and has participated in multiple marathons and half marathons. ... Read More
