`No environmental issues in extending Juhu airport runway over the sea'

Learning from the Navi Mumbai airport fiasco, the plan to revitalise Juhu airport and make it fit for small planes is being steered clear of any green issues. On Wednesday, consulting firm KPMG made a presentation to the aviation ministry on Juhu airport, outlining the proposal to extend the 1,200-m-long runway to about 2,000 m by extending the airstrip into the sea over a bridge-on-stilts and not reclaiming any portion of the sea.
The firm also proposed changing the alignment of Juhu runway to make it parallel to Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport's (CSIA) main runway and allow virtually independent use of both the airports. The entire exercise is estimated to cost Rs 1,200 crore and is being accorded priority as CSIA is now almost completely choked.
The main airport will have some free slots for bigger commercial planes if the small planes, like ATRs, that it handles currently are shifted to Juhu. "There are possibly no environmental issues in building a bridge-on-stilts over the sea to extend the runway. The airstrip's alignment also needs to be changed, otherwise it can't be used. The Juhu Beach road that passes at the end of the runway currently will have to be diverted into an underpass or tunnel road under the extended runway,'' aviation minister Praful Patel said.
30/07/10 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Airports Jul 2010, New Jul 2010