Aurangabad Airport Faces Land Acquisition Challenge

Once located on the outskirts, the Aurangabad airport has now become part of the city due to rapid urbanization and acquisition of 182 acre of land needed for the proposed expansion may prove to be a stiff challenge for the authorities. The long-pending expansion involves extending the runway to 12,000 feet from the existing 9,300 feet, building a parallel taxiway, installation of solar panels and facilitating hangar for aircraft, among other infrastructure and facilities. The demand for expansion of Aurangabad airport received an official boost when former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had pledged Rs 200 crore for creating the necessary infrastructure, during a special cabinet meeting held in Aurangabad on October 4, 2016. The official surveys carried out in the past had identified certain residential properties from Chikalthana along with the land owned by farmers as well as Aurangabad Municipal Corporation, CIDCO and MHADA that are likely to come in way of the proposed expansion of Aurangabad airport.