After the receipt of 786 hectare land from Maharashtra Airport Development Company for airport expansion, District Collector Dr Vipin Itankar has swung into action. The administration demolished 40-50 houses of Viktubaba Nagar near Shivangaon. Viktubaba Nagar and Shivangaon are the parts of 786 hectare land parcel for Nagpur airport’s expansion. Dr Itankar is Chairman of MIL, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of MADC. Recently, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had convened a meeting at Mumbai where he asked the officials to expedite works of all airports in State. Nagpur’s Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport is undergoing runway recarpetting work and in April, GMR Airports Limited (GAL) will start its facelift work.

 

After the land acquisition that began long ago, four villages were still inside MIHAN and Shivangaon was one of those. Baba Daware was leading the agitation of farmers. But some years ago, Government gave Rs 300-350 crore to the Project Affected People (PAPs) for the rehabilitation. A huge area of Chinchbhuvan was chosen for rehabilitating the PAPs. Government provided money for the homes, for lands, plots. A complete locality has come up there. Government noticed that the people took full advantage of the compensation but did not leave their residences. They gave these houses on rent to some different people due to which the issue remained unresolved. Dr Vipin Itankar told ‘The Hitavada’, “Viktubaba Nagar is a part of Zudupi Jungle where we have demolished 40-50 houses after ensuring that the people are not residing there. Many citizens of Shivangaon have requested us for acquiring their homes. They each have been already given 1,000 sq ft plot.” 1,034 families are residing there, of which some people have their homes in the city while some are residing in Chinchbhuvan, the rehabilitated area.

 

The new airport will be built on 786-hectare land and it will link to second taxiway. MADC has already completed the procedure of rehabilitation of residents in Shivangaon village and nearby areas to free the land for transfer. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has taken a major decision of handing over 786 hectare land to MIHAN India Limited, that runs Nagpur’s Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport The long-anticipated transformation of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport, Nagpur will officially begin when GMR Airports Limited (GAL) takes charge of development work from April 2025. It is a major milestone for the Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) and its flagship project, MIHAN (Multimodal International Cargo Hub Airport at Nagpur). Expansion is to be done by GMR Airports Limited include constructing new parallel runway. Its initial length is 3,200 meter. The existing runway is proposed to be extended by 400 m in Phase II from beginning of Runway 32 in South East direction with 7.5 m shoulder on both sides and strengthening of existing runway to cater for the strength of Code. A parallel taxiway South of the new runway is proposed in Phase-I. For all these construction works, airport will need land. Shivangaon remained a major hurdle but Dr Itankar has resolved it.