Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today slammed Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia for accusing her of delaying approval for setting up a second airport in Kolkata, saying her government cannot “evict people” and “bulldoze” their houses.

The Centre wants to set up a second airport in the city as the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport has reached its capacity. “They need 1000 acres of land for another airport in Kolkata. Can I bulldoze the existing houses? Is it possible? We cannot just evict people. The minister (aviation) shouldn’t do politics. I’m not like them who killed farmers,” said Miss Banerjee at Kolkata airport before leaving for Lucknow where she will campaign with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on 8 February.

Reiterating that the state government is against forceful land acquisition, Miss Banerjee said: “It is not our policy to evict people. We will not allow Singur, Nandigram here”. Miss Banerjee said airports are ready at Coochbehar, Balurghat and Malda but the Centre has not started regional connectivity. This apart, state government has already come up with Andal airport, she added. “Tell them (the Centre) to provide 1,000 acres of land. We won’t evict anyone. This is not our policy,” she said.

Miss Banerjee’s remarks came a day after Mr Scindia claimed that the Centre has elaborate infrastructure development plans for West Bengal including a second airport for Kolkata, but the Mamata Banerjee government has not yet provided land for it. Mr Scindia had claimed that he has been asking for a dialogue with the chief minister for six months for setting up the second airport but there has been no response from the other side so far.

“We want a new airport to be built in Kolkata. The existing one is at present running at maximum capacity and for several years, letters and views are being exchanged for a new site, but no concrete step has come from the state government,” he told reporters at a press conference on Sunday. It may be mentioned here that the state government had earlier submitted the proposal for declaring Andal airport as the second airport of Kolkata but the Centre had rejected it on the ground that it is located at around 190 km from the city.

The Centre had informed the state government that it would not be convenient for passengers to catch another flight at Andal after landing at the existing airport at Dum Dum. Following which, the state government has identified Bhangar Block 2 in South 24 Parganas, which is 30 km from Dum Dum, as the location to set up the second airport of the city.

The district land and land reforms officers have been asked to submit a report to the state administration. However, sources said that a section of the Trinamul Congress leaders have already registered their reservations about the project as it would require a huge eviction of people. According to the Centre’s guidelines, the second airport would have to be established on at least 4,000 acres of land in order to accommodate all modern facilities.