Bhubaneswar: Biju Patnaik International Airport, in collaboration with the city administration, intends to start building a parallel taxi track at the airport here by January.

Once complete, the present practice of haphazard parking of taxis at the airport will be regulated and streamlined. Roads to and the city from the airport frequently face congestion now owing to irregular parking of taxis.

"The cars do not park at designated places. One can find taxis parked right under the 'no parking' boards. This not only creates congestion but also affects the beauty of the airport area. It creates a bad impression of the city for visitors," said Jyoti Acharya, a frequent flyer.

In order to start work on the taxi track, the airport authorities have asked the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) to make land available for work. This land will only be free after a big slum located near the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) is cleared.

Loknath Padhy, joint general manager for the airport director, wrote to municipal commissioner Krishan Kumar that the airport authority had taken up the tender process for construction of the parallel taxi track and it would be finalised by the first week of November, but it wouldn't be able to hand over the land because of encroachment.

"Therefore, you are requested to take early action for eviction of the Farm Gate OUAT basti and Gandamunda basti coming on alignment of the parallel tax track and expansion activities of Biju Patnaik International Airport," wrote Padhi.

Authorities of the airport and the municipal corporation had a meeting earlier in October on this. The civic body had then promised to hand over the land to the airport by December.

Sources said the respective zonal commissioner had been asked to make a requisition for the eviction following which the central eviction monitoring committee of the state government would go for the eviction drive.

"We are in process of constructing transit houses for rehabilitation of the slum dwellers," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.

He said the construction of the transit houses was on in full swing at Sampur.

"We have identified 241 families eligible to get the transit houses. They will be shifted in a phased manner and the eviction will be carried out alongside. Once complete, nearly 64 acres of land will be handed over to the airport authority," said Jena.