Barring Warangal, 5 airport projects fail to take wings

Hyderabad: While the State government’s funding has brought some momentum to the Mamnoor Airport in Warangal, there are five more airports in the State that were proposed by the government and are still on paper even after a decade.

According to official sources, besides Warangal, the government had proposed to have airports at Basanth Nagar in Peddapally, Jakranpally in Nizamabad, Addakal in Devarakadra in Mahabubnagar district, Adilabad, and Kothagudem. Sources said that these airports have been in the proposal stage for over a decade and are not taking shape except for taking up surveys and delaying the process. Former civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, during his visit to the State had assured to develop these six airports in the State.

“Though the Airport Authority of India has taken up techno feasibility surveys, there is no progress,” sources said. During August 2021, while replying to a question raised by BRS leader KR Suresh Reddy, the then minister had said the Airport Authority of India (AAI) would take up the Jakranpally Airport in Nizamabad in Telangana.

As per the proposal, there is a scope for development of airports at six places, including Jakranpally, Mahabubnagar, and Kothagudem, under the green category and the brown category at Adilabad, Basant Nagar, and Warangal. The airport at Basant Nagar used to have VayuDooth planes. As these places are 150 km away from Shamshabad, there were no issues with the construction of these airports.

The sources said that the AAI officials had taken up a survey at Kothagudem, but there was a problem of land acquisition.

Along with this, the nearby area is surrounded by forest, and this needs environmental clearance. Because of the land acquisition issues, there was no progress on the proposed airport. Initially, there was an agreement with the Shamshabad airport that there should be no airport in the 200 km range of the airport, but since Kothagudam is 280 km from the city, that made the construction of an airport there feasible.

The Centre had changed its policy, allowing a second airport within 150 km of an existing one.

The government had also identified 385 acres of land for an airstrip in Adilabad. Four years back, the government had taken up a survey with AAI at Addakal in Devarakadra town in Mahabubnagar district. However, sources said that except for the survey, no concrete work has been done. According to residents in the area, every time there is a survey, the land value at the nearby places shoots up, and it appears as if the surveys are meant to jack up the land prices.