Locals Support Puri Airport Project In Odisha During 1st Public Hearing

Bhubaneswar: The first public hearing for the proposed Shree Jagannath International Airport in Odisha’s Puri is reported to have evoked positive response from locals ahead of acquisition of land in the area for the ambitious project.

The mega project would come up on 1,164 acre, including 68 acre of forest land and 221.48 acre private land in Sipasarubali and Sandhapur areas under Brahmagiri tehsil and is scheduled to be completed by 2025. The airport will be built at an estimated cost of Rs 5,631 crore.

The first public hearing was held in Sipasarubali mouza on Tuesday to discuss the draft Social Impact Assessment (SIA) report ahead of acquisition of the private land. Several pople, including the private land owners and local panchayati raj institution members, were present during the public hearing, officials said.

Stating htat there was no opposition from the public to the airport project, Puri sub-collector Bhabataran Sahoo said the local people unanimously supported the airport project for overall development of the area.

On the second day of the public hearing, a meeting with residents of Sandhapur is being held on Wednesday. The draft SIA report for the proposed airport has been prepared by the National Institute of Rural Development and Environmental Science under Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies for the acquisition of private land.

According to officials, the acquisition of 221 acres of private land should not be a hurdle as no habitation exists in the area. All the private land was stated to be vacant.

It may be noted here that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik met Prime Miniter Narendra Modi in New Delhi earlier this month and held a detailed discussion on the proposed airport in Puri.