GREATER NOIDA: Following the appointment of RITES, a Government of India Enterprise for conducting an Obstacle Limitation Survey (OLS) for the proposed international airport at Jewar, Uttar Pradesh Director, Civil Aviation Devendra Swaroop met Arunvir Singh, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority(YEIDA) on Tuesday to take the project further. A team of officials from RITES also met Singh to chart out the road map for conducting an Obstacle Limitation Survey (OLS) for the project.

According to YEIDA officials, the survey by RITES for the OLS will commence from next week. “A team of YEIDA officials will provide complete support to the RITES officers for the survey,” said Singh. “The OLS survey is likely to be completed by June 15, 2017,” he explained.

The Union ministry of civil aviation in May 2016 had asked the UP government to conduct a fresh feasibility study and OLS survey on the project as a similar assessment was conducted by UP civil aviation department director for the airport project in 2010. On April 26, 2017, YEIDA had formally appointed RITES for the survey.

Singh further told TOI that Chairman YIEDA, Dr Prabhat Kumar will also discuss the phased-wise construction plan for the airport on Friday, May 12, 2017. “The phasing for the construction of the proposed airport was discussed with the Civil Aviation Director on Tuesday. The central government has recommended some changes in the earlier construction plan. However, the final decision and phase plan will be revealed by the Chairperson,” he said.

The Jewar airport proposal has been hanging fire for years, first mooted in 2001 by Rajnath Singh, the CM of UP then. Mayawati, too, pushed for it when she succeeded him as CM. But in 2012 the Akhilesh Yadav government scrapped the project, citing the clause that bars development of a second airport close to an existing one. Yadav instead pitched for Saifai as one of the three new options where an airport could come up. However, in November 2015, the UP government sent a letter expressing willingness to revive the Jewar airport proposal. The Civil Aviation Ministry worked on it and finally gave approval to the UP government in March this year.

The project has been fully revived after BJP came to power in UP and Yogi Adityanath the state chief minister decided to propel the project back on track.