Sanjay Raut Raises Questions Over Airspace, Runway Safety at Proposed Purandar Airport
Pune, 31st August 2026: Even as land acquisition for the proposed Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje International Airport in Purandar taluka progresses, questions over the project’s technical feasibility and passenger safety have now come into focus.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut has raised concerns over the proposed airport site and various technical aspects related to the airspace through a social media post.
The airport is proposed across the limits of seven villages in the Saswad-Jejuri region of Purandar taluka. More than 92% of the 1,216 hectares required for the project is reportedly acquired. Against this backdrop, Raut has questioned whether the site meets the required technical feasibility and aviation safety standards.
Raut has also alleged that fertile agricultural land belonging to farmers in the seven villages is being acquired for the project and raised questions over compensation, rehabilitation and the consent process. He claimed that farmers were being pressured during the acquisition process.
Beyond the land acquisition issue, Raut has sought clarity on the technical and airspace feasibility of the proposed airport. Referring to a news report dated August 29, he said several aspects related to the proposed location need to be examined, including the funnel zone, NDA-Lohagaon airspace, ATS Route W28, Obstacle Limitation Surface (OLS), hilly terrain, runway orientation and aircraft take-off and landing profiles.
Raut questioned whether air traffic from the proposed airport could conflict with the nearby military airspace and whether aircraft would be able to safely take off and land in both directions. He claimed that clear answers to these questions have not yet been made public.
Stressing that passenger safety must be the highest priority, Raut asked who would be held responsible in the event of an accident in the future. He said responsibility should be clearly established before the project proceeds — whether it lies with officials who selected the site, authorities that approved the airspace, consultants who prepared technical reports or the government that sanctioned the project.
Raut has demanded that all major technical reports related to the airport be made public, including the funnel zone study, airspace coordination report, OLS survey, terrain-obstacle study, runway orientation justification and an independent safety audit.
He said making these reports public would allow the technical feasibility of the proposed site and its implications for passenger safety to be assessed independently.
Raut also opposed proceeding with land acquisition in the absence of clarity on safety standards. He said development should not come at the cost of farmers’ land or passenger safety and demanded that the acquisition process be halted until it is established that the proposed international airport meets all necessary aviation safety requirements.
