Bokaro: Although Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) served notices to the squatters settled around the airport here, which is being expanded into a commercial one, illegal residents continue to enter the premise from the Dundibagh area by scaling the eight-feet high boundary wall just to defecate.
The workers engaged in the construction of the boundary walls find it difficult to work amid the filth. A labour said, “After coming to work each morning, we pour mud on the excreta to stop the smell, which otherwise makes it difficult for us to work.”
The squatters use the scaffolding of the new boundary wall to enter the premises. Wilfred Kerketta, deputy general manager and the in-charge of air traffic control at Ranchi’s Birsa Munda International Airport, said, “We will take a tour of Bokaro Airport next week to assess the completion of work.”
The Airports Authority of India has recently written a letter to Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) to sort out issues related to the trespassing of the squatters on its land, but hardly anything has been done, except for a notice which gave the squatters a month’s time and warned of forced eviction.
There are about 300 hutments adjacent to the boundary on BSL’s land. With the expansion of the airport is being carried in full swing, even the district administration has asked the BSL management to remove the squatters from its land and pave way for the development under Phase-II of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (UDAN)-2016.
Of the four airports to be developed in Jharkhand, Bokaro is one of them. “Over 90% construction works have been completed,” said AAI sources. “The remaining work comprises construction of boundary walls, levelling of land and cutting of trees.”