Expansion of Mysore Airport: Hand over land already acquired: MP to officers

Mysuru: With Rs. 320 crore already released and disbursed for land acquisition required for the expansion of Mysore Airport, Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha has directed officials to expedite the process of handing over 160 acres of land — to the Airports Authority of India — acquired as against 240 acres of land earmarked for the acquisition.

He was chairing a meeting of officials at Jaladarshini Guest House this morning with representatives from the Airports Authority of India (AAI), Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB), Karnataka State Small Industries Development Corporation (KSSIDC) Limited, Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC), Department of Minor Irrigation, Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) and Department of Horticulture.

“Earlier, of the total 240 acres of land (all falling under various survey numbers of Marase village, Mysuru taluk) identified for expansion works, a total 160 acres of land have been acquired with the Rs. 150 crore released by the State Government. The land is in the possession of the Development Section at KIADB which has to be handed over to the AAI, to facilitate the expansion works as per the Detailed Project Report (DPR),” the MP said.

“To acquire the remaining 80 acres of land and get funds released, officials should prepare a proposal. I will speak to the authorities concerned,” he assured.

The expansion works include the extension of the runway width and length to facilitate the operation of bigger planes in the future.

The remaining expanse of land, yet to be acquired, will be used to divert the Mysuru-Nanjangud Highway up to one kilometre to facilitate the runway extension. This is because the alignment of the runway and the Highway bisect each other.

Earlier, a 500-metre to 600-metre-long underpass was proposed on Mysuru-Nanjangud Highway and NHAI was to take up the project at a cost of Rs. 700 crore. Now the underpass idea has been dropped and instead, a part of the Highway (up to one kilometre) will be diverted near Marase after the land acquisition. As the land includes various plantations and is riddled with legal disputes, the Horticulture Department has been involved to fix the compensation for plantations. Mysore Airport Director R. Manjunath, KIADB Special Land Acquisition Officer V. Priyadarshini, KIADB Development Officer Murthy and others attended the meeting.

This post was published on February 24, 2023 9:15 pm