Amravati's airport hope takes wings with Gadkari move

AMRAVATI: City MLA Sunil Deshmukh’s 15-yr-old dream of developing the Belora airstrip near Badnera into a full-fledged airport might be realized in near future as Union minister Nitin Gadkari has, upon persuasion by Deshmukh, intervened to expedite the matter.
“Gadkari has arranged a meeting of all MPs, MLAs, MLCs and top officers of the district with the authorities of Ministry of Civil Aviation, Airport Authority of India (AAI), Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation (MADC) and ministers of the concerned ministry from the centre and the state along with their secretaries in Delhi on April 23,” Deshmukh told TOI.
“Amravati is the only divisional headquarter in the state which does not have a full-fledged airport. While airports have come up in taluka places like Shirdi and district towns like Nanded, Latur, Kolhapur and Gondia, Amravati has been longing for it since 2000,” said Deshmukh, adding he had been making efforts for it since 2000, but the road was full of hurdles. “First, it was the issue of land acquisition. When that was resolved, work languished again over the issue of the agency to be involved in the development of the airport,” said Deshmukh, adding, “It was given initially to MADC and later the process of handing over the development work of the airport to AAI had been started. Though much work has been done on this front, no definite decision and positive measures have as yet been fixed, leading to difference of opinion and contradictions at different levels.”
Deshmukh said given the extreme need of having a full-fledged airport in Amravati, the issue needed intervention and attention of the central leadership for the removal of all hurdles in the process. “I wrote to Nitinji on April 10, seeking his intervention in the matter. Realizing the seriousness of the local leadership and the administration about the issue and its genuine need here, he has arranged a meeting in Delhi on April 23 with the concerned to clear the hurdles and set the pace of the development,” said Deshmukh, adding the AAI chairman, in a meeting with additional chief secretary of Maharashtra CM on July 17, 2013, had expressed AAI’s willingness to take over Amravati airport for development.
Deshmukh also told TOI with the initiative of Gadkari, separate meetings would also be held with the ministers and secretaries of defence, railways and textile ministries on April 24 to thrash out the pending issues of the construction of a missiles factory, railway wagon repairs factory and shifting of three NTC mills to textile zone at Nandgaon Peth MIDC.
With things all set to get active, hopes have again soared high for the citizens here.