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State government set to strike deal with Airports Authority

MALAPPURAM: The State government is set to clinch a quid pro quo deal with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for acquiring land for the development of the Calicut International Airport at Karipur.

A meeting between Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and top officials of the authority to be held in a week will finalise the agreement. Union Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed will attend the meeting.

The deal, to be signed between the State government and the authority, will ensure not only rehabilitation of people displaced by land acquisition but also employment to them by the airport.

Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendran told The Hindu that the government would start acquiring land requested by the authority only after ensuring mutual benefit for spending crores of rupees from the State exchequer.

He said the government would not unconditionally acquire the land and hand it over for expansion of the airport as was done before.

“There should be a quid pro quo [clause] and it will be a guarantee of employment for the displaced people,” he said.

Mr. Rajendran said that once the deal was clinched, the government would launch a dialogue with those facing displacement.

He said acquiring 130-odd acres (about 52 hectares) of land required for the expansion of the airport would not be a difficulty once the people were convinced of the situation.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Haj House at Karipur earlier, Mr. Rajendran said the development of the airport would be possible only through collective efforts.

He said the Left Democratic Front government was following a policy of not leaving the displaced people to suffer. “We will ensure rehabilitation of all the affected [people],” he told a large gathering.

The people of Karipur have been opposing the proposed land acquisition. They say that the airport authorities had failed to providing employment to the displaced people when the airport was set up more than a decade ago.

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