The civil aviation ministry’s grand plans to transform the Juhu aerodrome into an independent airport that will operate along with Mumbai airport, catering exclusively to commercial turboprops, pivate jets and helicopters is not going to be an easy task to achieve in three years.
Conceding that executing the Rs 2,000 crore project is going to be tough, the union civil aviation secretary KN Shrivastava, who personally surveyed the Juhu airport on Friday, told Mumbai Mirror, “The Juhu-Tara road is an obstruction for the runway, which has to be realigned and extended into the sea. Rehabilitating slum dwellers from 40 acres of land will be a challenge, as will be carrying on with the 100-plus daily helicopter operations.”
Shrivastava held a meeting with the Maharashtra Chief Secretary Jayant Banthia, MMRDA Commissioner, UPS Madan, BMC officials, other senior government officials and a few legislators before carrying out a site visit.
08/04/13 Aditya Anand/Mumbai Mirror
