Airport in Andal not to hit coal, says Bengal

Calcutta: The Bengal government has written to the civil aviation ministry saying a planned airport in Andal will not affect coal mining and should be cleared. This follows a visit to the site, spread over 3,500 acres, on October 1 by officials of the state government, Coal India and the Central Mine Planning & Design Institute.
In its report, the state said any possible coal reserves in the area were well below the levels at which mining was being carried out at present.
The officials’ recce followed Coal India’s objections that the site would block reserves. It had written to Bengal industry minister Nirupam Sen about its concerns, with copy to the civil aviation ministry, asking for a fresh look at the site.
The letter comes days before the DM of Burdwan, of which Andal is a part, issues a notification for the acquisition of 2,300 acres for the first phase of the project, which also includes a residential and industrial township.
The state cabinet’s approval for the plan, being developed by Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd with Singapore’s Changi as the hub’s operator, had come on August 28. During the October 1 survey, it was found the site was outside the leasehold area of Eastern Coalfields, the Coal India subsidiary that controls the region’s mines.
10/10/08 The Telegraph

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Categories: Airports Oct 2008, New Oct 2008