Won't acquire land by force for second airport, Mamata Banerjee tells Scindia

"They need 1,000 acres for another airport in Kolkata. Should I bulldoze existing houses? Shall I evict people residing in those houses?" Mamata Banerjee said in the reply to Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday (February 7) contended that her government would never acquire land by force as she hit out at Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who said that the plan to build a second airport here was hanging fire for want of a plot.

Scindia, during a press meet here on Sunday, said the Centre has plans to build a second airport in Kolkata, but the Mamata Banerjee government was yet to provide land for it Banerjee, in reply, said, "They need 1,000 acres for another airport in Kolkata. Should I bulldoze existing houses? Shall I evict people residing in those houses? Is it possible? We can't just forcibly evict people. ?The minister should not politicise such matters. I will not allow another Singur and Nandigram (evictions) to take place," she told reporters.

Banerjee said her government has already allotted land for the third runway at the existing airport.