Hut hurdle on runway extension path

Calcutta: The extension of the city airport’s secondary runway, a key part of the Rs 2,100-crore modernisation project, is set to take off this week, but encroachments could still prove a hindrance.
The construction of a road replacing another that cuts across the proposed extension path — which was holding up the project for the past few months — has been completed.
“The state government informed us that the traffic diversion will start in a couple of days. We are planning to start extending the runway this week,” said a senior official of the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
The secondary runway will be extended by 400 metres, of which 65 metres will lie beyond the existing boundary wall. The AAI plan to push back the new boundary wall another 240 metres to accommodate the runway safety area.
About 500 families living in huts along the edge of the area to be added are proving an impediment.
An airport official said the encroachments could stop them from erecting the boundary wall and making the extended runway operational.
Rajarhat-Gopalpur municipality had promised to rehabilitate the encroachers.
State home secretary Ardhendu Sen last week said the government would take steps to clear the encroachments.
03/08/09 Sanjay Mandal/The Telegraph

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Categories: Airports Aug 2009