Arunachal Guv clears air over proposed airport project

In the wake of public outcry over his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the proposed greenfield airport at Hollongi, Arunachal Pradesh Governor Jyoti Prashad Rajkhowa today said it was "misinterpreted" by the people of the state.
The Governor, had in a letter on September 28, urged the Prime Minister to reconsider the decision to set up a green field airport in the state in view of "high costs" saying upgradation of an airport in nearby Assam would be economically more viable, which evoked strong reaction in the state with demands for his recall growing louder.
He also urged the PM to make a thorough scrutiny of all the documents of land owners covered under the land acquisition process by a central agency like CBI so that any over-valuation of land compensation could be detected and the nexus between land owners and powerful politicians could be unearthed and legal action initiated against them.

Rajkhowa, in his letter, also alleged that the earlier site of airport at Karsingsa was abandoned due to vested interests of politicians.
Rajkhowa told reporters here this evening that he had written a letter to the chief minister on July 3 last followed by a reminder on September 10 to explain the reason for selecting Hollongi as the site for the airport after receiving complaints from various quarters.
"Till today, there is no response from the chief minister on his letter and since I cannot compromise with the development of the state so I wrote to the PM to order a probe into the matter to clear all complications before executing the project," he said adding, "I am not anti-development and anti-Arunachal as alleged but working for the interest of the state.