KOZHIKODE: Commercial airlines would start operating services from the Kannur International Airport from the year 2014, said Excise and Ports Development Minister K Babu, who holds charge of Civil Aviation Development of the state.He was speaking at the interaction session organised by Malabar Chamber of Commerce here on Friday. The construction of the runway at the Kannur Airport would be completed by 2012, he added.The Malabar Chamber of Commerce representatives handed over a memorandum on various issues pertaining to the Port and Airport Development of the Malabar, to the minister. M K Raghavan MP, who was present at the interaction session, requested the minister to speed up the acquisition of the 137 acres of land for the Kozhikode Airport. He also said that the funds allocated for the land acquisition was insufficient.The government has kept aside Rs 25 crore for the acquisition while the required fund is around Rs 600 crore, according to Malappuram District Collector, who has been posted as the coordinator.“It was decided in a meeting convened by CM that the land acquisition for the Kozhikode airport would be completed within three months. Almost two months of the stipulated deadline has passed, still no necessary action has been initiated for the acquisition,” said M K Raghavan. Responding to the MP, the minister said that the land acquisition process would be commenced soon and it would not be neglected with the arrival of the Kannur Aiport.Babu explained that Rs 2.93 crore has been allocated for the detailed project report (DPR) and Rs 9.9 crore for the environmental study for the airport. He also said that out of the 1,278 acres of land acquired for the airport, 778 acres has already been transferred to KIAL.The remaining 500 acres acquired by KINFRA for the government will be handed over soon after certain technicalities are cleared with the banks from which it has taken loans.
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