Adilabad Airport project cleared for take-off as Telangana govt approves land acquisition

Adilabad: Development will literally take wing in Adilabad with the establishment of its airport, moving from the zone of possibility to the realm of reality.

Earlier last week, the Telangana State government accorded permission to the District Collector Rajarshi Shah to acquire 700 acres of land needed for the development of runways and buildings related to the proposed joint user aviation facility.

Where do Adilabad people go for air travel?

Hyderabad’s Shamshabad airport is about 360 km south of Adilabad, while the town is about 200 km from Nagpur city airport in Maharashtra towards its north. The other favourite destinations for flyers of Adilabad are Bengaluru and Tirupati, as estimated from the quantum of rail and road passengers.

Adilabad is also centrally located from the point of view of existing Air Force Stations around Hyderabad, Bidar and Nagpur. Given this aspect, the proposed airport is most likely to be used by the IAF.

A wave of happiness is running across the place as the issuance of the relevant government order culminates the efforts of people and leaders from all walks of life here. Foremost among those who made such efforts is BJP leader C Suhasini Reddy, who personally represented the matter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in 2019.

Others in the list are Adilabad MLA Payal Shankar (BJP) and B Goverdhan Reddy (Congress). The latter had evinced keen interest in surveys of the existing aerodrome during the last few years.

Indian Air Force’s plan to develop airport

The Indian Air Force (IAF), which has come into the possession of the existing aerodrome spread over 369 acres on the eastern outskirts of Adilabad town post accession of Hyderabad into the Indian Union, had in 2014 proposed to acquire nearly 1,600 acres of land contiguous with the aerodrome.

This would have suited their plan to develop the whole place as a fully-fledged training centre for the IAF.

Surveys on obstacles and the feasibility of the project have already been conducted, land was identified, and a report was sent to the then TRS government for starting land acquisition by the district administration, then headed by Collector Babu Ahamed. For reasons better known only to that government, there was no further development in the matter.

The advent of the Congress government in Telangana helped bring back attention to the issue. The Union Government’s schemes under its Udaan programme to develop air connectivity of backward rural areas came in handy for taking the matter forward, finally resulting in the GO issued now.

“This will surely be a facility to be used jointly by Civil Aviation authorities as well as the IAF,” asserted Rajarshi Shah. “Things will, however, be clearer after a meeting of concerned government officials, the Airports Authorities of India and the IAF,” he added.

Managing larger aircraft

At present, a few airports are functioning in the country under the joint user type, where smaller aircraft are being used. But deployment of larger aircraft like the Airbus is also not being ruled out.

Smaller aircraft from different places are landing, for example, at the Adampur Air Force Station (AFS) at Jalandhar in Punjab and the Hindon AFS in Delhi. Both are under the joint user scheme, according to those who are in the know of the things.

The district administration will have a huge task on its hands once things start getting into motion. “Yes, acquiring 700 acres of land is not going to be an easy task,” the District Collector observed.