West Bengal seeks land in Bhangar for second airport in the state

Chief Secretary of West Bengal H K Dwivedi has asked the District Magistrate of South 24 Parganas, P Ulaganathan, to finalise a plot of 3,000 hectares in Bhangar to develop the city's second airport for reducing congestion at Dum Dum.

According to the officials, the city has demanded a second airport near the city and scouting for land is ongoing for the airport project.The officials suggested Andal airport as the second airport, but it was rejected because the travelling time from the city to Andal is more than three hours.

The second airport will have two runways, each of 3 km, with a space of 300 m between them for wide-body aircraft to operate simultaneously. It will also reduce congestion at Dum Dum.

Dwivedi held a meeting with the DMs of Malda, South Dinajpur and Cooch Behar to take up the stock of airports in these districts and make them functional to reduce the load from the Bagdogra airport. Additionally, the state government aims to make the Purulia airport functional.

According to an official, getting a big plot in Bhangar would be difficult concerning the anti-land acquisition movement in installing a project of Power Grid Corporation in January 2017. The officials had to deal carefully with the land acquisition process.

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