AGARTALA, May 29 (TIWN): Airport Authority of India (AAI) Chairman R K Srivastava alongwith his team arrived at Agartala on Thrusday and held a meeting with Chief Minister Manik Sarkar taking up the strategy of Agartala airport expansion work. Transport Minister Manik Dey had also attended the meeting held at secretariat building. Other Transport Dept officials of the state also remained present in the meeting. Talking to the reporters after the meeting at the civil secretariat, Srivastava said that the expansion work of the Agartala Airport would be commenced very soon.He also said the design for the expansion work of the Agartala airport would be made and consultant would be recruited soon. “We will try our best to start the expansion work as earliest as possible,” Srivastava added. However, later talking to Minister Manik Dey who had also attended the meeting on Thursday at the secretariat said, “The state govt. has asked them to take up the work as soon as possible without any further delay.”The AAI team visited the state on Thursday to take a stock of the situation, status of land for the construction of new terminal building as per the airport expansion project.Earlier Dey said, “The AAI has not yet tendered the project work despite the state govt. here has readied the land for it.” Minister said there would not be any eviction to the additional land as there was found no habitants residing across the 4.6 acres of land.

“We have also agreed to approve the proposed additional land of at least 4 acres for the project work, but yet today the AAI has not taken up the preface work of the project and has been delaying it further,” Dey told to reporters earlier.As per the proposal of AAI, the state govt. here decided to provide an additional 4.61 acres of land to the ministry to take up the complete procedure of the extension work.

AAI has been seeking for an additional land for the car parking and other facilities as part of the extension of the Agartala airport, while the state govt. has already given them 72 acres of land amongst which 10.6 acres of land for the construction of the Terminal building during the first phase and 62 acres of land for the construction of Runway Street.

According to the official state govt. has already spent a total of Rs. 35 crore for the project work.State government has allotted about 72 acres of land to Airports Authority of India (AAI) to facilitate the Rs 300-crore Agartala airport up gradation project.

157 families were displaced from the southern and western part of the city airport. The families have been shifted to the land that AAI had abandoned on the other side of the airport along with a total cash compensation of Rs 30 crore.