Hisar, Karnal airports have fallen prey to BJP’s negligence: Hooda

Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today said the airports in Hisar and Karnal have fallen prey to the BJP government’s corruption and negligence. The BJP government not only caused delay in the construction of these airports approved during the Congress tenure but it also committed a scam worth crores.

He said the extent of the scam in the project can be gauged from the fact that the airport’s boundary wall was built without a foundation.

Hooda said approval was given to develop the existing airstrips in Hisar and Karnal as domestic airports during the Congress government in August 2013 itself. “Earlier, a joint feasibility study was conducted by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Haryana Government in October 2012, and a feasibility report was prepared by the AAI. The Haryana Government offered the required land to the AAI for the upgrade of Hisar and Karnal airstrips, as demanded by the AAI,” he said.

“After the change of government in the state and the Centre, it is clear from the PIB release of July 2015 that then Civil Aviation Minister Siddheshwar had also accepted the plan of the Congress government. Hisar and Karnal airstrips were identified among the 50 places where small airports were to be developed, but the BJP government has put this project on hold since then,” he said.

“It seems instead of completing this project, which has been pending for so many years, the entire focus of the BJP and BJP-JJP governments was on carrying out the scam. The government’s intention has been exposed by the corruption of Rs 180 crore in the construction of the boundary wall of Hisar Airport,” he added.