Pantnagar airport: Uttarakhand HC issues notice in plea against acquisition of 1,072 acres of varsity land

A public interest litigation has been filed in the Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday, against the acquisition of 1,072 acres of agricultural university land for the new airport at Pantnagar. After this, the Court has directed the state government, Pantnagar University and the Aviation Ministry to file replies within two weeks.

The division bench of Acting Chief Justice Justice Ravi Malimath and Justice Alok Kumar Verma, passed this order while hearing a petition filed by Keshav Singh Passi, a resident of Udham Singh Nagar. The petitioner states that a new airport is proposed to be built on the south side of Pantnagar University of Agriculture and Technology.

For this, 1,072 acres of land of Pantnagar University are being acquired. After the formation of the state, about 4,300 acres of the land of Pantnagar University has been acquired for non-agricultural purposes.

Due to this, the identity and existence of Pantnagar University, the father of the Green Revolution, has come under threat.

The petition states that at present there is already an airport on the north side. On one side, there is sidakul and now another airport is being built on the south side, which will create noise around Pantnagar University and will also cause pollution. This will affect the academic environment and research work of this university.

The Petition said that Pantnagar University caters to 25 per cent of the agricultural seeds in the country. This very fertile land cannot be given for non-agricultural work. On the other hand, the Revenue Council in one of its surveys has admitted that 76,842 acres of land in Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar are barren.

Therefore, instead of being given fertile land for airport construction, barren land should be used for the airport. Apart from this, there are 11 canals around the place where airport construction is proposed and this land is marshy. This land is not suitable for the airport as well as two high tension power lines are also passing near this place.

The case will be heard next on January 13, 2021.

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