Centre blames Bihar for delay in Purnia airport work
In June 2022, the state government had said that 52.18 acres of land had been acquired for the civilian enclave at the airport in Purnia, which is run by the Indian Air Force.
The Bihar government is yet to respond to the request of Airports Authority of India (AAI) for an additional 15 acres of land for a civil enclave at the airport in Purnia, union minister of state for civil aviation Gen V K Singh (retired) said in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
“The state government has agreed to provide connectivity to the civil enclave from the highway. However, no response from the government of Bihar has been received against AAI’s demand for an additional 15 acres of land,” the minister said in reply to a question from BJP member Sushil Kumar Modi, who has served as Bihar’s deputy chief minister for long.
In June 2022, the state government had said that 52.18 acres of land had been acquired for the civilian enclave at the airport in Purnia, which is run by the Indian Air Force.
AAI, on its part, has maintained it had requested land on the northern side while the state government had acquired land on the southern side of the runway.
An additional 15 acres is required to construct a four-lane road to link the civilian enclave with National Highway-31.
During his visit to Purnia on February 10 this year, chief minister Nitish Kumar had wondered over the delay in the operation of civilian flights from Purnia. “Whatever they (centre) demanded, we agreed. Still, it has not been constructed,” he had said.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, a sit-in was held by local activists to expedite work of construction of the civil enclave at Purnia airport.
In 2012, flight services between Purnia and Patna and Purnia and Kolkata were started, but the services were were discontinued after one year.
The existing IAF airport at Chunapur, 10 kms from Purnia town, was built soon after the Indo-China war in 1962.
