Additional 64-acre land to be acquired for airport expansion

Kolhapur: District collector Daulat Desai said that the expansion of

Kolhapur Airport

is at its final phase and that they are in the process of acquiring additional 64-acre land for its expansion.

He was discussing the development-related work of Kolhapur Airport with MLC Satej Patil and MLA Chandrakant Jadhav in his office on Saturday.

“We have completed the survey and marking of the area required for the expansion of the airport and have forwarded the proposal to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for further approval. The aim of expansion is to provide space for landing of planes with large passenger capacity,” Desai said.

“We have already sorted out the issue of the shifting of a small temple that was obstructing the airstrip expansion and will soon relocate the structure to the newly-constructed temple at Gadmudshingi village,” he added.

Desai said that there was some work related to electrification and setting up of street lights requiring at least Rs 5 crore. “We have discussed the issue with the concerned authorities and will complete the work within two weeks,” he said.

He said that they are also dealing with some other issues such as villagers demanding alternate road for travelling to Tamgaon from Ujalaiwadi which was quite close to the airport. “We are finding a way to construct a new road for villagers and will ensure that the airport expansion will not hamper their communication,” Desai said.

“We are also in talks with the NHAI for the construction of an underpass on the road connecting the highway to Hupari village. The arch of the entrance on the highway obstructs air service,” he said.