The proposed Sri Jagannath International Airport inPurimay soon become a reality with a team of officials from theAirports Authority of India(AAI) conducting a pre-feasibility study in the temple town on Thursday. The central team also inspected a 1,000-acre land, about 5km from the Jagannath Temple, for theconstruction of the proposed airport.
The AAI team was shown a vast stretch of land, sprawling over 1,000 acres, owned and acquired by the near the Girala andMangalarivers under Sipasarubali mouza. The land does not have any encroachment nor is it entangled in legal disputes. The proposed international airport will not violate the CRZ norms as the land is located more than 500 metres from the beach. Verma denied reports of the proposed airport posing any threat to the structural safety of the 12th century shrine.