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Warangal awaits its next flight
Since that 20-seater Vayudoot flight took off from Mamnoor Airport sometime in February 1987, the only doubt lingering in the minds of people in Warangal was when the next flight would come from.
The first flight took off from the airport in February 1987
Warangal: Since that 20-seater Vayudoot flight took off from Mamnoor Airport sometime in February 1987, the only doubt lingering in the minds of people in Warangal was when the next flight would come from.
“The day is not far away,” MP Azmeera Seetaram Naik, who is pursuing the Civil Aviation Ministry for the revival of the airport, told The Hans India.
The revival of the Mamnoor drome, located on the suburbs of Warangal city, built by the Nizams in 1930 and said to be the largest pre-Independence era airport, has always been an awful illustration of an old adage - one step forward and two steps back.
It’s been over a little over a decade since the then undivided Andhra Pradesh government has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for the development of Mamnoor airport.
As per the MoU, the assignee - the AAI – had agreed to develop, operationalise and maintain the airport for the operation of short haul aircrafts such as ATR-42 and ATR-72 initially before upgrading to Boeing airplanes. The Assignor, the then AP government had agreed to handover the required land free of cost besides providing electricity and water for a period of five years.
Though the AAI conducted a survey to acquire land in adjacent Nakkalapalli village, the MoU never got off the blocks courtesy the Exclusivity Clause - 5.2.2 signed by the government and GMR Group that developed Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Shamshabad.
The clause says no new or existing airport shall be permitted to be developed as, or improved or upgraded into, a domestic airport within an aerial distance of 150 km of the RGIA before 2029.
Against this backdrop, MA&UD Minister KT Rama Rao and MP Seetaram Naik met the Civil Aviation Minister, Ashok Gajapathi Raju, to look into the long-felt need of Warangal region, touted as the next destination after Hyderabad.
Seetaram Naik said: “Warangal region, known for its intangible cultural heritage of Kakatiya dynasty, has a host of reputed educational institutes such as NIT, Kaloji University of Health, Kakatiya University, besides being focal point to tourism, and potential to develop IT destination next after Hyderabad.
This apart, the biennial Medaram jatara, the largest tribal fair in Asia, which attracts devotees from all over the nation and abroad, makes a strong case for the revival of airport.”
Referring to the clause that became hitch for reviving the airport, he expressed confidence that Mamnoor airport will soon be operationalised with the Chief Minister, K Chandrashekar Rao taking care of it.
It may be noted here that the existing airport which has around 700 acres needs another 439 acres. The AAI constructed compound wall around the airport to protect its land from misuse and encroachments, last year.
