Cabinet releases Rs. 319.13 crore; decks cleared for land acquisition
Mysore/Mysuru: Just weeks after he presented the State Budget where he had announced that the Mysore Airport Runway Expansion will be taken up along with the Centre, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has released Rs. 319.13 crore for the project.
The consent to the project was given on Apr. 16 and the fund sanction will give a big boost to business in the Mysuru region. The Airport is located at Mandakalli on the outskirts of the city and is spread over 490 acres. The land will be acquired by the State Government and it will be handed over to the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
The expanded runway where planes like Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 can land, a full-fledged 10-lane Economic Corridor between Mysuru and Bengaluru and Container Corporation of India’s (CONCOR) Multi-Modal Logistics Park at Kadakola are expected to be a game-changer for the region. It will build economic and industrial activities and also give a boost to tourism and education.
At present, only ATR-72 type planes can land at Mysore Airport that has a length of 1,740 metres and a breadth of 30 metres. To facilitate the landing of bigger planes, the runway must be expanded to 2,750 metres and its breadth has to extend up to 45 metres. Over 240 acres of additional land is required for the expansion.
The final notification has been issued for land acquisition with respect to 160.5 acres. In all, 206 acres and 22.5 gunta land has to be acquired. Preliminary notification will be issued for acquiring the remaining land and the State Cabinet has fixed compensation at the rate of Rs. 1.5 crore per acre.
KSSIDC as the nodal agency
Initially, the AAI had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) for land acquisition. Now, the Cabinet has made the Karnataka State Small Industries Development Corporation (KSSIDC) Limited as the nodal agency that will oversee the transfer of land to AAI and also the expansion works.
The runway expansion project was mooted over 10 years ago and of the 240 acres of land required for the project, the KIADB had given the final notification for acquisition of 160 acres. But as per the rates and the demand from landowners, each acre had to be paid a compensation of Rs. 1.5 crore.
The process that was stuck till now will get momentum with the release of Rs. 319.13 crore. Also, the project is expected to be speeded up as there is no fund crunch and the landowners are willing to part with the land as their demand for a higher price has been met.
Underpass on Mysuru-Nanjangud Highway
The expansion of the Airport is dependent on extending the runway which in turn depends on the 500-metre to 600-metre-long underpass that will be built on Mysuru-Nanjangud Highway.
This is because the alignment of the runway and the Highway bisect each other. The underpass idea was mooted as the road diversion was an expensive proposition. Once the underpass is constructed, the Highway will pass below the extended runway.
The underpass will be constructed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the estimated project cost of Rs. 700 crore has also been factored in the cost of the underpass. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has already given the security clearance for the underpass.
This post was published on April 17, 2022 6:41 pm