Rs. 112.75 crore sanctioned for Vijayawada airport.

The state government recently accorded administrative sanction for Rs. 112.75 crore to resolve pending issues related to the development and expansion of Gannavaram Airport, near Vijayawada.

While Rs. 57.20 crore will be spent on shifting of houses from Buddhavaram, Davajigudem and Allapuram villages affected by airport expansion, Rs. 42.94 crore will be used towards payment of annuity. 

The remaining amount will be utilised for reconstruction of RWS water tank, reimbursement of rental payment for 55 displaced houses and other purposes.As per the Gannavaram Airport Development Land Pooling Scheme (Formulation & Implementation) Rules, 2015, the Krishna Collector has issued a notification for an extent of 837.69 acres, including 732.01 acres of patta/private lands, 95.97 acres of government lands and 9.69 acres of assigned lands, under Land Pooling Scheme for expansion of the airport as per the master plan prepared by the Airports Authority of India. 

In order to complete the above proposed land acquisition and other ancillary or incidental tasks, including annuity, structures, trees, drip material, horticulture crops, and R&R among others, the Collector requested for administrative sanction and allocation of budget for an amount of Rs. 166.24 crore.

Besides giving administrative sanction for an amount of Rs. 112.75 crore, the government  has also accorded permission to utilise an amount of Rs. 13.19 crore from the allotted budget for the fiscal year 2020-21.

The government will also provide Rs. 40 crore for 2020-21 as additional funds, to sort out the pending issues other than annuity payments.

THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS