New Delhi, Sept 09: After last week's threat, the centre today said Patna's Jaiprakash Narain airport will "not be closed down" following Bihar government's decision to provide land for extending the runway.
"Patna airport will not be closed down now .... Work is progressing on a war-footing to make this airport the best in the country," Civil Aviation Minister Shahnawaz Hussain told a news agency after the state government sent a communication promising to take swift action on transfer of land to Airports Authority of India (AAI). Hussain had last week warned Bihar government that Patna airport would be closed down if immediate measures were not taken to improve safety standards and had said his ministry could not force airlines to fly there in "unsafe" conditions.
Expressing happiness over Bihar government's follow-up action, he said a sum of over Rs 5.4 crore was in the process of being paid to the state government on account of about five acres of land being transferred to the AAI.
For 1.8 acres of railway land which has already been transferred to the AAI, the civil aviation ministry has deposited Rs four crore in the railway ministry account, Hussain said.


Bureau Report