Orvakal airport will begin operations soon, says Minister

Officials told to complete the work by October-end

The Orvakal airport will be fully operationalised within the next two months and all officials must work with dedication to complete the pending works by the October-end, Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy has said.

Reviewing the progress of the works at the project site, 18 km from here, Mr. Rajendranath on Monday asked the Andhra Pradesh Airports Development Corporation Limited (APADCL) to complete the works of the passenger terminal building, air traffic control tower, watch tower, water facility, and the administrative block at the earliest.

After inspecting the runway, the Minister said Orvakal airport is a node with a land bank of 8,000 acres in the Hyderabad-Bangalore Industrial Corridor project.

“Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is keen on bringing the airport to operation at the earliest. For the airport, 971 acres of land has been acquired and another 37 acres is pending,” he said and wanted that the process be sped up.

Water stagnation

Meanwhile, the villagers in the surrounding areas complained about the water stagnation in their farmlands due to building of the boundary wall of the airport.

In response, the Minister said, “The issue must be addressed by studying all the solution possible at the local level by Panchayat Raj, irrigation and airport officials.”

The Minister suggested that a report must be prepared immediately by taking 10-year rainfall data of the region and land contour into consideration to address the problem.

Other pending works includes creating an airport security unit, for which, Superintendent of Police Fakkeerappa Kagineelli promised to spare 66 personnel. All the panchayat in the 20 km radius of the airport have been advised not to allow skyscrapers and tall towers.

The Indian Oil Corporation has been told to speed up the work on the fuelling unit, and the BSNL for setting up a communication network.

Panyam MLA Katasani Rambhupal Reddy, Collector G. Veerapandian, Joint Collector Ravi Pttanshetty, and Airport Director Kailash Mandal accompanied the Minister during the inspection of the project site.