Sitting in Zurich on the 50th Anniversary of Corbusier passing away, I read that the international airport at Chandigarh has, finally, been inaugurated by the Prime Minister. The occasion fortuitously got linked with the memories of Corbusier, who is being celebrated in Chandigarh, as in Europe and particularly in Switzerland.
The argument over the improvement of Chandigarh airport, has been on for more than a decade. I have been a Punjab MP since 2004. In the last 10 years of the last government, I tried very hard, with the then Aviation Minister, to improve the situation. The small civil airport at the Air Force Station needed to be expanded. Contracts were given for modest changes, but the doings of the contractor, and the casualness of the Aviation Ministry, delayed it for many years. Work was also stopped for a long time over a quarrel between the contractor and the government. I tried hard, but the Aviation Minister's energies, were focused on Nagpur and elsewhere. Finally, modest expansion was undertaken.
In the meanwhile, lobbying started for an international airport. That issue also took its own time. Elsewhere in India, be it the East, West, North or South, a number of international airports came up. After all, an airport is simply a place for an air taxi that is no different from a land taxi; they both take passengers from A to B for a charge. The opening up of aviation did much for the country, but Punjab was always denied its due.
19/09/15 Manohar Singh Gill/Tribune India
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The argument over the improvement of Chandigarh airport, has been on for more than a decade. I have been a Punjab MP since 2004. In the last 10 years of the last government, I tried very hard, with the then Aviation Minister, to improve the situation. The small civil airport at the Air Force Station needed to be expanded. Contracts were given for modest changes, but the doings of the contractor, and the casualness of the Aviation Ministry, delayed it for many years. Work was also stopped for a long time over a quarrel between the contractor and the government. I tried hard, but the Aviation Minister's energies, were focused on Nagpur and elsewhere. Finally, modest expansion was undertaken.
In the meanwhile, lobbying started for an international airport. That issue also took its own time. Elsewhere in India, be it the East, West, North or South, a number of international airports came up. After all, an airport is simply a place for an air taxi that is no different from a land taxi; they both take passengers from A to B for a charge. The opening up of aviation did much for the country, but Punjab was always denied its due.
19/09/15 Manohar Singh Gill/Tribune India
