Top priority to Jewar airport: Yogi Adityanath

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Monday that his government has accorded top priority to the development of the Jewar International Airport in Noida.

He said that despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the speed, transparency and execution as per the schedule of this project have demonstrated the new work culture of the state. It has been decided to increase the number of airstrips from two to six at this airport, he informed.

The Chief Minister also appreciated the work of the Zurich Airport International AG, a developer selected for Jewar airport, and assured their representatives of all possible help to be provided by the government.

Adityanath was reviewing the progress of the project on Monday on the occasion of the signing of the state support agreement' between Yamuna International Airport Private Limited and Noida International Airport Limited, constituted by Zurich Airport International AG, the chosen developer for Jewar airport.

The Chief Minister recalled that the Jewar airport project was lying pending with the previous governments for almost 30 years.

"We decided in March 2017 itself that this project would be completed on priority in the interest of the country and the state," he said.

In 2017, Lucknow and Varanasi had the only operational airports in the state. In just three years, five more airports, including in Gorakhpur, Hindon, Agra, Prayagraj and now Bareilly, have become operational.

There were only two international airports in the country's largest state (Lucknow and Varanasi), but now there will be five international airports with the addition of Jewar, Kushinagar and Ayodhya to the list.

The Chief Minister said that he was of the view that good connectivity expedites the development process. "The process of operationalisation of 21 airports and seven runways is underway. The effort is to make Uttar Pradesh soar in the field of civil aviation," he stated.

Reviewing the displacement and subsequent rehabilitation of the families affected by the construction of Jewar airport, the Chief Minister said that dialogue should be established with these families and they should have a better displacement mechanism.

He directed the concerned officials to address this issue within one week, saying that the process of allotment of plots to the displaced population should be conducted with complete transparency.