LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government has met the deadline of having 80 per cent land for Jewar International Airport in its possession as farmers from some Gautam Buddha Nagar villages handed over documents of 28 hectares of land for the project to chief minister Yogi Adityanath here on Wednesday.
A special programme was organised at the chief minister’s residence and farmers and officers from Gautam Buddha Nagar had reached Lucknow to take part in the programme. In all 1,334 hectares land is required for the airport project.
“Wednesday was the last day for submission of bids for the airport in Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida). As per terms and conditions about 80 per cent of the project land should be in the government’s possession and with these (farmers’) letters handed over to the chief minister, we have met this condition of having 80 per cent of the project land in our possession,” said a senior officer.
Speaking on the occasion, Yogi said some neighbouring states, too, had aspired to have another international airport close to New Delhi and added that Uttar Pradesh was one such state. Moreover, UP had proposals for construction of international airport at other places, too, he said.
Yogi said having possession of 80 per cent land for the project was one of the main conditions and it was good to know that this objective has been achieved.
{{/usCountry}}Yogi said having possession of 80 per cent land for the project was one of the main conditions and it was good to know that this objective has been achieved.
{{/usCountry}}ATTACKS PREDECESSORS
Yogi used the occasion to launch a frontal attack on his predecessors, saying the previous regimes did not have time to undertake such major projects. He said his government’s initiatives would make air travel convenient even for farmers as more and more cities, including Ayodhya, were being linked to air services.
He said instead of working for the state’s development, the previous regimes kept on indulging in loot.
BJP MLA Dhirendra Singh, who has remained closely involved with the exercise of land acquisition for the project, said the chief minister had held a meeting with the farmers at Gautam Buddha University in Greater Noida last year and convinced them about the importance of the airport project.
Singh said the land for the project was acquired in a transparent manner and added that in all 1,334 hectares of land was required for the project and this included 94.85 hectares of government land.
He said 70 farmers of six villages of Noida handed over possession of 28 hectares of land on Wednesday. With this additional land, the total land in possession of the government for the project was now about 80.34 per cent, he added.