Report of new site for Purandar airport submitted

PUNE: Pune district guardian minister Ajit Pawar said that the report regarding the new site for Purandar airport has been submitted to the central government

PUNE: Pune district guardian minister Ajit Pawar said that the report regarding the new site for Purandar airport has been submitted to the central government.

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The Pune international airport at Purandar was approved by authorities before it faced land acquisition issue from farmers. Later, NCP leader Sharad Pawar suggested an alternate land for the airport at the same taluka.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh chaired a meeting on the issue and instructed authorities to submit a report for the new location.

Pawar said, “As suggested by Rajnath Singh, district collector, airport authority and defence authorities jointly submitted a report to the central government. The proposed land is near the existing site. The new site is in the same locality and falls under Purandar. The site also has less land acquisition cases.”

Congress MLA Sanjay Jagtap said, “It will be too early to declare the location of the new site. If the new location is approved, the government would need to acquire less land for the airport as maximum land is owned by the government. We carried out an in-depth study before suggesting the new site as the farmers from the previous site were not ready to hand over their land for the airport project.”