Kolkata: The country is set to approach the Indian airport authority which is looking for relaxation of the maximum distance criteria of 40 km between new airports and cities so that they can propose sites in Kalyani, about 58 km from NSCBI airport.
The source in the state said Bhangar, the site was exploring the acquisition of 7,000 shelves, it might not be feasible because it consists of wetlands and multi-plant agricultural land.
While obtaining wetlands can disrupt the ecological balance of the region, acquisition of agricultural land is a thorny problem that can trigger agitation.
The Trinamool government came to power in 2011 riding a rebellion in Singur and Nandigram against agricultural acquisitions.
Since in power, the government also emphasizes the policy for zero agricultural land acquisition.
In recent communication, the Head of State Secretary H K Dwivedi has directed 24 South Pargana DM P Ulganathan to ask as many as 3,000 waters in Bhangar to establish a second airport to reduce congestion in Dum Dum.
However, the past week’s assessment has revealed that the zone intended at Bhogali-1 Gram Panchayat in Bhangar has 30 odd graves, 80-odd large large fish, more than 150 small fish, and more than 6,000 residents in Nangla and more than the village -Hesa palpur along with several thousand hectares of agricultural land.
Another thing that has been worried about the country is the history of Bhangar, where a project from Power Grid Corporation faces obstacles related to serious land acquisition.
The anti-airport construction sentiment and demonstration has begun in the area when initial talks, which have encouraged the country to find other alternatives.
“The zone identified in Bhangar has too many berus and agricultural land that can inhibit ecological balance and also lead to a large scarcity in the supply of food because they supply most vegetables and city fish,” said a source.
AAI, since 2018, has written to the state to identify land for the second airport in the city in line with Mumbai, New Delhi and Chennai, where the work for the second airport is underway.
Kolkata airport has an integrated terminal size of 2.33,000 square meters that can accommodate a maximum of 24 million passengers per year.
Covid has not brought a havoc, said airport source, it will reach the current saturation level and pass 26 million by 2030, the deadline set by AAI for the construction of the second airport.
According to the Center for Center, the second airport must be at least 4,000 hectares so that all modern facilities can be on the spot.
But the state is looking for 7,500 hectares because they want to create excessive capacity in the future.
“Kalyani is almost 50 km from the city and has good road connectivity.
The city has research institutes and scope for development,” said government sources.