Deputy Commissioner M.V. Vedamurthy has said that construction of buildings in the radius of 4 km from the airport here has been banned.

He was speaking at a meeting of officials of the Karnataka State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation and owners of industries inMachenahalli Industrial Estate on the airport project on Thursday.

He said as the airport was likely to become operational by July 2013, construction of new buildings here had been banned. The Shimoga Urban Development Authority, Shimoga City Municipal Council and gram panchayats in the notified area had been asked not to issue new licence to construct buildings. Land within the 4 km radius could not be sold.

Mr. Vedamurthy said that even cases related to transfer of ownership of the land under the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board should be brought to his notice.

Speaking at a meeting held earlier to discuss the progress of work on the airport project, Deputy Chief Minister K.S. Eshwarappa asked the representatives of Regional Airport Holdings International (RAHI) Limited, promoter of the Shimoga airport project, to complete the pending work related to the project at the earliest.

Mr. Eshwarappa asked the representatives to enhance the workforce at the project site and complete the pending work soon. The representatives said that the work on the runway had been halted owing to rain. Work would resume after October 15. Work on a compound wall and approach roads was under progress now.

They said that the airport would become operational by July 2013.

Mr. Eshwarappa said that the delay in execution of work led to apprehension among the people of the city on the completion of the project. The Deputy Commissioner said that it had been decided to avoid shifting of the high tension power line near the project site by extending the runway by 500 metres.

On the shifting of ordinary power line from the project site, officials from Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) said that Rs 4 crore was needed for the purpose. A sum of Rs. 4.93 lakh was needed to conduct a survey regarding shifting of the power line.

Mr. Eshwarappa instructed the officials of KPTCL to commence the survey at the earliest. Officials from the Karnataka State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation said that according to the guidelines of the Director General of Civil Aviation, the chimneys of some of the industries in Machenahalli Industrial Estate located near the airport had to be trimmed.Mr. Eshwarappa asked the officials to hold a meeting with the industrialists in this regard.

Chief Executive Officer of the zilla panchayat Sanjay Bijur, Additional Deputy Commissioner M.K. Srirangaiah, and Assistant Commissioner M.L. Vaishali were among those present.