Posts a picture saying work to begin in May; locals seek proof
The BJP has played yet another card to “befool” the people of Jammu by uploading a picture saying that the work on the expansion of the runway at the local airport will start in May this year. However, the land is yet to be taken over by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) from the Army.
The Jammu airport presently has 6,700-feet-long runway, which forces the aircraft to use emergency brakes at the time of landing here. The emergency brakes not only give a jerk to the passengers travelling in the aircraft, but also pose a serious accident threat.
A 17-acre plot, which is in the possession of the Army, was allotted to the AAI for the runway expansion in the year 2000. However, even after the state government decided to provide an alternative site to the Army, it has not vacated the 17-acre plot and the file is pending with the Ministry of Defence since February 2017.
However, the state BJP, which has nothing to sell to the people of Jammu even after coming into power for the first time, has uploaded a picture on its official Facebook page (BJP Jammu and Kashmir) with a picture of Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh and MP from Jammu-Poonch constituency Jugal Kishore saying that the work on the expansion of the runway would start in May this year, despite the fact that the file for the land transfer was still pending with the Defence Ministry.
“There is no update on the clearance of the land to date. We are eagerly waiting for the land to be officially handed over to the AAI, so that the work on expansion can be started. There is no communication from the Defence Ministry to date,” said DK Goutam, Director, AAI, Jammu.
“We have also opened tenders for the expansion work, but it cannot be started until we get the land for the same,” he added.
Meanwhile, the BJP’s propaganda has failed to get any appreciation from the public. In comments to the post, people have been asking the BJP to show the order for the work or post such picture after completing the work.
However, despite repeated attempts no BJP leader could be contacted.
