New airport plan floats only on words for a decade

The CM’s statement on Friday is the latest in the string of divergent statements from leaders of various political parties during the airport’s journey from conception to nowhere and during which projected land acquisition cost has escalated to around Rs 1,000 crore from Rs 34 crore as projected in 2002.

One of the first to make a prediction was Patangrao Kadam in September 2002. Kadam,the then Industries Minister,had been quoted as having said the aviation ministry had given in-principle nod for the international airport at Chakan and that the land acquisition by MIDC would cost Rs 34 crore. Kadam’s statement had come when city MP Suresh Kalmadi had reportedly stressed that though he was not opposed to Chakan airport,shifting the airbase from Lohegaon to Nashik was more viable.

While all this this came from the Congress,the NCP was also vocal about the airport plan.

For instance,a month after the 2004 Assembly elections held in October, the then Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had ambitiously predicted “project completion by end of 2005.” Patel had also said he had pushed,with the then Air Chief,for 24-hour operations at Lohegaon airport until the new airport came up.

In 2005,ground survey by the IAF found Chakan unsuitable. Yet another blow came from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that insisted on the airport to follow a two-runway norm of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). It triggered the search for an alternative location that ended at Rajgurunagar. The two-runway norm also meant an increase in land to be acquired and the price.

In 2006,the then Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee had promised to look into the matter.

While NCP leaders,the Pawars and Patel,vehemently kept advocating the new airport with not-so-vocal support from the Congress,sitting Shiv Sena MP Shivajirao Adhalrao-Patil,just short of the May 2009 general elections and contesting from newly created Shirur constituency,took the side of the disgruntled farmers in the area. That was just a week after the state government sanctioned a seed capital of Rs 200 crore for land acquisition.

“Eighty per cent of the 2,565 hectares is irrigated and farmers are not willing to part with the land,” this paper had quoted Adhalrao-Patil when he had spelled out his ‘airport hatao andolan’. In January 2010,adhering to his earlier stand,Kalmadi reportedly predicted that the new airport will not come up for another 10 years.

In November 2010,NCP chief Sharad Pawar reportedly claimed it will be ready in four-five years. Patel and Pawar also advocated for private investment in the project.

In 2012,deputy CM Ajit Pawar allocated Rs 438 crore in the state budget for land acquisition in Rajgurunagar,raising hopes for the airport. The hopes were alive on June 7,when CM Chavan stated that a report was being awaited from the AAI on the new airport. But on Friday came the CM’s announced that a new site is being considered.