The proposal to establish a full fledged Air Force Station (AFS) in Adilabad town has been brought to the fore again by Bharatiya Janata Party State executive member Ch. Suhasini Reddy who apprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh about the prestigious project that has been in limbo for some time now.
She met the Prime Minister at his office and the Defence Minister in his chamber in Parliament on Tuesday and briefed them on issues pertaining to the erstwhile undivided Adilabad district, especially its backwardness.
“I submitted a representation giving all details related with the proposed prestigious Defence project to the Prime Minister and Mr. Rajnath Singh. They heard me out patiently and assured to look into it,” the BJP leader, who hails from Adilabad, recalled of the positive response from the two top leaders.
Proposed expansion
The Indian Air Force had proposed to establish a full fledged AFS in Adilabad town in 2014 when Adilabad was part of undivided Andhra Pradesh. The IAF controls the 369 acre aerodrome of World War II vintage located on the outskirts of the district headquarters and needs an additional 1,500 acres of land to extend the existing strip to build a 9,000 ft long runway.
“The land was identified in May 2014 and after formation of Telangana, the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation found the project proposal to be feasible and recommended the government to give a no objection certificate to the IAF for land acquisition in December that year. There is no word on such an important Defence project since then,” Ms. Suhasini Reddy pointed out.
“The project will bring the needed boost to development in the backward district. Lot of economic activity is anticipated if the AFS materialises,” she opined.
With regard to the other aspects of which formed part of her 15 minute discussions with Mr. Modi and Mr. Rajnath Singh, the BJP leader said she told them about the abundance of natural resources in the district. “I urged them to also plan development keeping in mind this fact,” she added.
Mr. Suhasini Reddy thanked the two top leaders for their audience. “Modiji was in good mood and posed for pictures too,” she observed.