Blaming the previous coalition government for the delay in acquiring land for the expansion of Mysuru airport, Mysuru MP Pratap Simha said he had met Chief Minister B.S. Yeddiyurappa for sanction of funds to complete the land acquisition process.
Responding to queries from reporters on the delay in the airport expansion project, Mr. Simha said former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who had assured former Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu of completing the land acquisition process soon, had instead tried to shift the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) helicopter division to Mysuru airport.
Now, with the Centre dropping the proposal to shift IAF’s helicopter division to Mysuru and retain the airport as a civilian airport, Mr. Simha said he had sought release of ₹200 crore in the coming Budget as the first instalment. “For the time being, this is enough for acquiring 114 acres of land for which final notification has been issued.”
A total of 240 acres of land is required for the project, which envisages extending the runway from 1.7 km to 2.8 km, besides construction of an under-pass for the national highway perpendicular to the airport. The extension of the runway is necessary to facilitate landing and taking off of large Boeings.
Already, it has been decided to pay the land-losers ₹1.4 crore to ₹1.5 crore.