Vijayapura: The works of the construction of Airport at Burnapur village are undergoing at a fast pace as the face of the land has drastically changed within three months of commencement of the project.
As per the project, presently 2.65 km long runway, approach road work, peripheral road, drainage works and so on are being developed at the site.
It may be noted that the project was flagged off by Chief Minister, B. S. Yediyurappa on February 15 through video conference from Shivamogga. Since then, the project works have been going on at a faster pace without any break.
Just about three months ago, the land was looking completely barren with uneven terrain, having lot of shrubs and stones.
But today, the situation has changed with several earthmovers working on the site to level it and many other machines being pressed into service.
The project was first launched on December 7, 2008, but owing to various technical glitches, the project could not take off.
Leave alone the commencement of the works, even the plaque that was installed at the site, was stolen by some miscreants.
The government had granted 727acre land for the construction of the airport to a private agency at the cost of Rs. 100 crores.
However, the agency withdrew itself from the project citing non-feasibility. The agency demanded additional land for setting up a township.
The government refused to offer more land, stating that it was against the Memorandum of Understanding. After which, the contract got terminated.
Since then, several efforts were made by successive governments to revive it.
Now, the BJP government led by Yediyurappa granted Rs. 222 crores for the project, of which, Rs. 95 crores is to be used in the first phase where land will be levelled and the runway would be constructed.
The tender has already been allotted for this work.
Though many experts believe that since Civil Aviation comes under the Central Government, therefore the former should also share the project cost, however the State Government has decided to take up the project on its own.
Deputy Chief Minister, Govind Karjol who appears to have taken keen interest in the project, has been following it up with the government to ensure that the works are resumed as early as possible.
He held several rounds of meetings with the officials and also has visited the spot on multiple occasions.
Several leaders across the party lines, not only have hailed the government decision, but also have urged the government to give a logical end to this project.
Meanwhile, the officials said that since the first phase of works are going on at a faster rate, the work would possibly complete within the next nine months. After which, the second phase would start, and the officials plan to complete that within a year of commencement of the second phase.
