CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy seeks faster clearances for Bhogapuram airport

Vijayawada: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to instruct NOC (no objection certificate) and site clearance for international airport at Bhogapuram are issued without delay as per the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.

The CM said development of Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati was one of the provisions of the Reorganisation Act. However, Bhogapuram case was entirely different as it needed to be developed as an alternative to the civilian traffic of Visakhapatnam airport. He said the growing defence needs of the Eastern Naval Command required the full services of Visakhapatnam airport. To strengthen his claim, he cited the recommendations of the Naval authorities in this regard.

In a letter to the Prime Minister on Friday, the Chief Minister said the Visakhapatnam airport needed to operate several civil flights to support the industry and incubate further growth. Visakhapatnam airport was surrounded by hills on three sides, and hence, for safety considerations, civil flights could take off and land in only one direction.

These places had a limit of only 10 movements per hour. While current requirement of both civil and military flying was being met, the number of Naval and civil flights were expected to increase substantially in the immediate future, in accordance with the growing security imperatives for the nation on the eastern seaboard and effort of the state to improve the tourism industry in Visakhapatnam.

All arrangements were in place for Bhogapuram and hence there was no point in delaying clearances for Bhogapuram airport, the Chief Minister reiterated.