Deepender Hooda slams govt over shifting of proposed airport from Haryana to UP

Congress MP from Rohtak Deepender Hooda on Wednesday decried the shifting of the proposed international airport from Rohtak district to Jewar in Uttar Pradesh (UP) by the NDA government at the Centre.

Addressing mediapersons here, the three-time MP alleged that it was the lack of the state government’s commitment to the growth of the state that it failed to take up the issue of Rs 20,000 crore project for the proposed airport with the Centre which if set up in Haryana would have generated direct and indirect employment to about one lakh people.

“It was during the previous UPA government at the Centre that the project was conceived in 2009 and I, as an MP, pursued the matter with the central authorities and got it through,” he said and added that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) had also submitted its pre-feasibility report giving its consent to the project by January 2014.

Stating that it pained him to note that the Union cabinet had recently shifted the proposed airport to Jewar area of UP, Deepender, son of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said that as he continued to pursue the project, the Union ministries of defence and civil aviation also gave their nod for setting up of Greenfield cargo aiport at village Bhaini Bhairon in district Rohtak, though the land of several adjoining villages belonging to six districts too was to be used for it.

Deepender, who was also accompanied by four Congress MLAs, Geeta Bhukkal, Raghubir Singh Kadian, Jagbir Malik and Krishan Hooda, said that there were several projects of Haryana worth over Rs 1 lakh crore, which had been approved by the UPA government but were not being pursued by the NDA government. “I would urge CM Khattar to take up the issue pertaining to the international airport and other projects with the Centre, or else the Congress would take these issues to people,” he said.

NTERNATIONAL AIRPORT,,WHICH WAS WAS TO BE SET UP IN ROHTAK DISTRICT, HAS NOW BEEN SHIFTED TO JEWAR IN UP