Will Telangana budget have provision for airport at Adilabad?

The State budget for the year 2020-21 may include allocation for establishment of an airport in Adilabad, and perhaps Kothagudem, if the timing of information sought by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) is anything to go by. The latter has asked the Adilabad district administration to furnish details of an over-five-year-old survey which had identified nearly 1,600 acres of land contiguous with the 369 acres extent of old aerodrome (controlled by the Indian Air Force) for acquisition to establish a full-fledged Air Force Station here.

Officials opined that it could be a routine inquiry to check if the status of the identified has remained same during the period or if there are any encroachments. Others, however, point out that the keenness of the State government in establishing airports in rural areas, the feasibility in doing so at Adilabad and Kothagudem as assessed by the Airport Authority of India and the timing of the query, which is just before finalisation of the Budget proposals, make it amply clear that the initiative could soon see the light of the day.

The query may even relate to acquisition of land for establishment of the AFS as originally proposed.

“No, there is less likelihood of this happening given the lukewarm response of the State government to that proposal,” asserted an official as he recalled the government remaining non-committal so far.

In August last year, a team of the Airports Authority of India had visited the area in question which falls under the limits of Khanapur, Anukunta, Ankoli and Thantoli villages on the outskirts of Adilabad town. AAI Assistant General Manager, Neeraj Gupta had told The Hindu then that feasibility for operating ATR type aircraft was being studied making a provision for expansion of the facility in future if need arose.

The AAI had inspected the 369 acres of aerodrome land as part of its feasibility survey in addition to identifying about 50 acres of land for extension of existing length of runway in the old facility if the IAF permits use of its property.

The State government was also toying with the idea of acquiring 450 acres of the identified 1,600 acres of land for the purpose of constructing an air strip if the IAF does not allow it to use the aerodrome, according to sources.