Landing system lies defunct at Chandigarh, blame game on

With the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and the Indian Air Force authorities playing the blame game over the replacement or repair of the Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the Chandigarh Airport, it is the common man who is at the receiving end.
While the Chandigarh Airport Authority is blaming the local Air Force authorities for the delay, the latter has put the onus of the job on the AAI. None of the authorities is ready to take responsibility for the flights’ disruption and harassment faced by the passengers.
Airport Director Suneel Dutt said, “The delay is entirely from the Air Force authorities’ side. They have to decide about the installation of the new ILS which is on their land. The authority to which the instrument belongs is responsible for its repair and replacement and not the AAI.” The ILS system which was working so far was installed by the Air Force on their land. It was a CAT-I system installed 15 years back which was later allowed to the assist in civil operations.
“The land belongs to the Defence Ministry and they are the deciding authority. As the Defence Ministry has already communicated to the AAI that the installation process of new ILS would be done in a phased manner, which would take time, they can go ahead with installation of their own system...” said Air Officer Commanding (AOC) Air Commodore S R K Nair of the 12 Wing Air Force station.
06/12/09 RituSharma/Indian Express