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All-party delegation to meet defence minister on international airport: says Sule
Supriya Sule, NCP MP from Baramati constituency, said that an all-party delegation of MPs is scheduled to meet defence minister Rajnath Singh to discuss the issue of the international airport
Pune: Supriya Sule, leader of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Member of Parliament (MP) from Baramati constituency, said that an all-party delegation of MPs is scheduled to meet defence minister Rajnath Singh to discuss the issue of the international airport, currently in limbo in terms of its current locale at Purandhar.
Sule’s comments follows the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) decision to cancel the no-objection certificate (NoC) granted to the new proposed site for the international airport in Purandar tehsil of Pune district that was made known in the first week of January 2022.
Last week, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar declined to provide a clear answer when he asked about the pending issue of thee international airport. Sule, who was in Pune on Tuesday, attended an event with the BJP state head Chandrakant Patil. She said that the meeting with defence minister is likely to happen in March.
“It will be the Union government’s decision whether the airport will be private or not. The most important thing is that Pune needs an airport immediately. So, all parties have sought an appointment with the defence minister, who has promised to meet us in March when the parliament session will resume. Singh is presently busy in Uttar Pradesh elections,” said Sule.
The originally proposed site for the international airport was changed because of opposition from villagers in Purandar tehsil. A revised proposal, with change in location site, was submitted to the Centre for approval. The new airport site in Purandar tehsil included neighbouring villages of Rise, Pise, Naigaon, Rajouri, Pandeshwar and Pimpri.
The cancellation of NoC for the newly proposed airport site by the state government for the international airport is seen as a setback for the project. “I have already informed you that there will be an airport in Pune. Work is going on and soon you will see the results,” Ajit Pawar had said earlier during a weekly Covid review meet in Council Hall.
