Runway revamp runs into land wall

Calcutta: The Rs 2,100-crore modernisation of Calcutta airport has hit a roadblock, with the state government failing to keep its promise to free 6.6 acres for the extension of the secondary runway by March.
Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials fear the delay in the transfer of the plot might result in the modernisation project missing the 2010 deadline.
A road linking Kaikhali and Narayanpur, running to the south of the airport, cuts across the plot on which the extended secondary runway is supposed to stretch.
To free the land for the extension work, the government had agreed to build a 1.5-km semi-circular road which will connect Kaikhali to Narayanpur skirting the earmarked plot. The new road was supposed to be ready by March, following which the state was to release the freed 6.6 acres.
“The deadline for laying the new road and removal of the shanties close to the point where the extended runway will end was March. But now the government is saying the process would take many more months because of the polls and other complications,” a senior AAI official told Metro on Sunday.
“The modernisation project, scheduled to end in 2010, can be delayed by months as the civic authorities could not give us a new deadline for vacating the land,” he said.
Officials of Rajarhat-Gopalpur Municipality, the local civic body, said they were not sure when the new road would be ready. “Construction is on but it is difficult to say when it will be completed,” said civic chairman Tapas Chakraborty.
The secondary runway is being extended as part of the modernisation scheme to make space for a bigger aircraft, such as A-380, to operate.
13/04/09 The Telegraph

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Categories: Airports Apr 2009