Lucknow: The Union Civil Aviation Ministry is eager to develop as many as seven new civilian airports in Uttar Pradesh — at Agra, Meerut, Jhansi, Faizabad, Gorakhpur, Moradabad and Allahabad — but is getting a lukewarm response from the state government.
Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said he himself and the Airports Authority of India(AAI) had sent several letters regarding the development of these airports, but the state government has not given any “positive response” yet.
Singh first wrote to the state government for taking the necessary measures to provide land in Meerut, Agra and Jhansi for the development of civilian airports. In April, AAI Chairman V P Agrawal wrote to Chief Secretary Jawed Usmani, requesting him to hand over
Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Airfield at Partapur in Meerut, belonging to the state, for development of an airport. The letter was sent along with the concept master plan of the airport. Agrawal requested the government to acquire 433 acres of additional land and hand it over to the AAI “free of cost and free from all encumbrances”.
18/12/12 Ramendra Singh/Indian Express
