Delay in nod for Chennai greenfield airport causes concern

Chennai: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is not the only one on tenterhooks because the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is yet to submit its feasibility report for the proposed Greenfield airport at Sriperumbudur. About 2,000 families are keeping their fingers crossed. The ICAO was to submit the techno-feasibility report last month.
For these families, a nod for the Greenfield airport means higher hopes that their lands otherwise marked for acquisition for expansion of the existing airport would be saved.
The state government had earlier hinted that it would like to go ahead with the Greenfield airport on 4,820.66 acres, because it found it difficult to acquire land northwest of the Adyar for building the parallel runway. While it would be tough to acquire even 300 acres, getting the earmarked 993 acres would cost more than Rs 2,000 crore.
So, the government wanted to acquire land for the new airport rather than expanding the existing one. A senior AAI official said "the ICAO report is yet to come." Though earlier studies showed that Sriperumbudur was suitable for construction of an airport, the government was keen on having the ICAO carry out a techno-economic feasibility study and also determine whether the airport could be operated simultaneously with the existing one.
Meanwhile, residents have started demanding de-notification of their lands. "Recent developments show that the government is keen to build a new airport. So it should not hold on to our land," said Karthik, who had purchased land in the neighbourhood just before the government spelt out its acquisition plans.
13/07/09 V Ayyappan/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Jul 2009, New Jul 2009