‘Compensation to villagers at twice the circle rates’

WORK IN PROGRESS Process to get farmers’ acceptance of conditions is going on, says district magistrate

LUCKNOW: Residents of villages Gurera, Aurangabad Jagir and Bhaktikhera from whom 70 acres of land is being acquired for expanding the Lucknow airport would be compensated at twice the DM circle rates, said district magistrate Kaushalraj Sharma.

“The process to fill up bonds to get farmers’ acceptance of the conditions is going on,” he said.

The DM also said that the compensation rates had been finalised after due consultation with local farmers.

For Gurera, the compensation finalised is Rs 4,500 per sq m, for Aurangabad Jagir, the compensation is Rs 10,000 per sq m, while for Bhaktikhera, the compensation is Rs 1,700 per sq m.

Sanjay Narayan, officer on special duty, Lucknow airport, said that the Airport Authority of India (AAI) was planning to expand various facilities at the airport, including the runway.

He said that efforts were on to acquire additional land for extending the runway and allowing bigger aircrafts to land at Lucknow airport, which already enjoys the status of an ‘international airport’.

“As soon as the land is acquired and handed over to the AAI, the process of fund allocation and inviting of tenders will begin,” he said.

At present, the runway is just long enough to accommodate mid-size aircrafts ie 300-seater planes with smaller fuel tanks. The current 2,800m length of the runway is insufficient to allow for the landing of bigger aircrafts. “For aircrafts such as Boeing 737, Boeing 747 or 757 to land here, the runway length has to be at least 3,500m,” said airport director AK Sharma.

In addition to this, the AAI is also in the process of acquiring over 20 acres of land for constructing an apron and a cargo building near the air traffic control (ATC) office.

Although the Airport Authority of India has had big plans for developing the Lucknow airport, the expansion activities have remained stalled so far because of troubles in the land acquisition, which has been going on for the past one decade without much results.