The Vizianagaram district administration in Andhra Pradesh is expected to complete land acquisition for the proposed Greenfield International Airport at Bhogapuram by October.
The government acquired about 2,150 acres of land so far and around 50 acres of land was yet to be acquired as the owners of the land approached the courts for more compensation.
Though there is no official communication on the foundation ceremony of the airport, it may take place shortly. The TDP leaders have demanded the district administration to complete the exclusive colonies for the Project Displaced Families (PDF) before the foundation ceremony of the airport.
Speaking to TOI, Vizianagaram Joint Collector K Mayur Ashok said that the land acquisition for the Bhogapuram airport would be completed very soon. Except for around 50 acres, the land acquisition for the ambitious project is almost completed. The resettlement and rehabilitation work for the project is progressing. The Bhogapuram green-field international airport would provide good air connectivity to north coastal Andhra Pradesh (NCAP), comprising Vizag, Vizianagaram, and Srikakulam districts, he added.
We are very confident that the land acquisition would be completed very soon as the government has been putting efforts sincerely to convince the owners of those 50 acres of land to complete the acquisition process smoothly. The district administration has been on the job for constructing exclusive colonies for the PDF. The works for the colonies are in advance stage at two places with best civic infrastructure such as internal roads, parks, hospitals, community halls and others, said Ashok who is the in-charge of revenue and land acquisition process.
It may be recalled that GMR Group which has constructed the international airport at Shamshabad of Hyderabad city of Telangana was awarded the Bhogapuram international project too. The GMR Group is waiting for the completion of the land acquisition and handing over the site for the beginning of the project.
The leaders and activists of TDP demanded that the government conduct a high-level inquiry into the alleged payment of compensation to benami and ineligible farmers for the Bhogapuram airport project. A delegation of the TDP recently met the district administration and alleged that some of the PDF are yet to get compensation from the government. The TDP leaders said that they will continue their fight for the displaced families and will not allow the foundation stone ceremony if the government failed to pay the compensation to all the PDF, they added.
As per the plans, the airport is expected to handle 6.3 million passengers annually in the first phase and it will increase it to 18 million depending on the demand once it becomes fully operational.
