AGARTALA, May 13 (TIWN): Despite a major setback to the construction work of Agartala Airport new terminal building, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) Chairman R K Sribastav is scheduled to visit here in Tripura on May 29 to take a stock of the situation of the land readied for the construction of new terminal building as per the airport expansion project. The official sources informed that Sribastav would arrive here and would inspect the lands across the existing airport at Narshingarh. However, later on May 29 evening he would meet Chief Minister Manik Sarkar at the civil secretariat. The meeting which would also be attended by Transport Minister Manik Dey and other state officials is expected to take up the issue of the Agartala airport expansion project work that has faced a major setback. Talking to the reporters at the civil secretariat recently Minister Manik Dey in this regard expressing displeasure said, “The AAI has not yet tendered the project work despite the state govt. here has readied the land for it.” “We have also agreed to approve the proposed additional land of at least 4 acres for the project work, but yet today the AAI has not taken up the preface work of the project and has been delaying it further,” Dey told to reporters. He also said that the state govt. has already invited the Union Ministry to visit the state and take a stock of the situation of the land at once.

Earlier talking to TIWN Transport Secretary Samarjit Bhowmik said that as per the proposal of AAI the state govt. here has decided to provide an additional 4.61 acres of land to the ministry to take up the complete procedure of the extension work. He said there would not be any eviction to the additional land as there was found no habitants residing across the 4.6 acres of land.

AAI has been seeking for an additional land for the car parking and other facilities as part of the extension of the Agartala airport, while the state govt. has already given them 72 acres of land amongst which 10.6 acres of land for the construction of the Terminal building during the first phase and 62 acres of land for the construction of Runway Street.

He also said that the state govt. has already spent a total of Rs. 35 crore for the project work.State government has allotted about 72 acres of land to Airports Authority of India (AAI) to facilitate the Rs 300-crore Agartala airport up gradation project.

157 families were displaced from the southern and western part of the city airport. The families have been shifted to the land that AAI had abandoned on the other side of the airport along with a total cash compensation of Rs 30 crore.