23 Farmers Gave Land For Varanasi Airport Runway

VARANASI: Much awaited expansion of Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport has started. In this regard 23 farmers have deeded about one acre of their land for the expansion of the runway at the airport.

The said target to complete the deed of 290 acres of land marked for expansion from 5932 farmers is to be completed till November . After taking the land from the farmers, the ownership will be handed over to the Airports Authority of India in December.

In this regard the state government has released the first installment of Rs 550 crore for the purchase of land. Now the administration has started taking documents from the farmers on the basis of consent. After the crop standing in the fields is harvested, the process of taking possession of it will be started.

This villages which are coming under expansion includes Sagunha, Ghamhapur, Karmi, Baikunthpur, Pura Raghunathpur and Basni, where 290 acres of land of these villages has been identified. In this regard land details of 5955 farmers have also been collected.

Expansion of the runway on 109 acres and construction of a new terminal building on 181 acres of land is proposed. For runway expansion, 109 acres of land will be taken in Pura Raghunathpur and Basni. For the terminal building and other facilities, 181 acres of land will be taken from Ghamhapur, Dharamanpur, Sagunha, Baikunthpur Karmi and Mangari. An expenditure of Rs 1018 crore has been estimated for the purchase of land.

Presently the length of the airport’s runway is 2743 meters and according to the new proposal it is to be increased to 4075 meters. There is also a plan to pass a road under the runway on the lines of Sydney. The 650 meter tunnel is estimated to cost Rs 400 crore. At present, discussions are going on regarding the construction of this tunnel.