Purandar airport land to be resurveyed

Pune: After the Ministry of Defence raised technical difficulties concerning the land selected for the upcoming Purandar international airport, it has been decided to re-conduct a technical survey of the land earmarked for the proposed airport.

This was decided at a meeting held in Delhi on Wednesday. It was also decided to conduct a meeting of all agencies associated with Purandar airport.

The choice of land was approved by State government, Airport Authority and Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation (MADC). However, the Defence Ministry had not  given its approval.

On Wednesday, a meeting presided over by State Minister for Defence Subhash Bhamre was held in Delhi. The meeting was attended by District Collector Saurabh Rao, Airport Authority of India and officials from Defence Ministry. Rao said the Defence Ministry has raised objections related to airspace and other technical details.

To rule out these issues, Bhamre ordered the technical survey of the selected lands to be re-conducted and the report submitted in four weeks. After the report is submitted, another meeting will be held by July-end or by first week of August, presided over by the Minister of Defence.

Rao said that all agencies associated with the airport will be invited for this meeting and final approval will be given during the next meeting.