Kerala - Kottayam   

Move on for setting up airstrip in Kottayam

KOTTAYAM: The Kottayam district panchayat has started efforts to realise the proposed airstrip. An airstrip which would help to link the district with major airports through small aircraft had been a long-pending idea, and in the last district panchayat budget a token amount of Rs.10 lakh was earmarked for the purpose.

According to district panchayat president Thomas Kunnappally, the change in the pace of development in Central Kerala, the emergence of Kumarakom as a tourism hub, the scope for moving vegetables, flowers and other produces to

Nedumbassery, and the increase in pilgrim tourist inflow made the project more feasible.

The panchayat was moving ahead in a systematic manner to realise the dream.

The KITCO was approached to prepare a feasibility study, Mr. Kunnappally said. The airstrip would make possible the landing of small aircraft with 48 to 78 seat capacity. This would need a 1.5 km-long airfield and the land needed for this would be about 40 ha (100 acres). However, taking into consideration future development needs, there were also plans to acquire 80 ha or more. The excess land may come in handy for expanding the airstrip or for developing a township.

The recent relaxation in the rules regarding construction of airports gave an impetus to the idea of an airstrip for the district.

Though the details of the project were yet to be worked out, the move was to form a company like Cochin International Airports Limited (CIAL), Mr. Kunnappally said.

As part of their preliminary efforts, the district panchayat president and members K. Anil Kumar, Job Michael, Sebastian Kulathumkal and others held an interaction with presspersons on Saturday.

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