Kolkata: Kolkata airport authorities have drawn up an innovative plan to solve a vexed problem that has stymied the airport’s growth for decades.
A mosque situated on the northern edge of the secondary runway — nearly 250 metres inside the airport’s operational area — has prevented its extension. A fenced pathway that leads worshippers from the Bankra neighbourhood across Jessore Road to the mosque has also come in the way of a taxi-track that is crucial for departing planes to reach the primary runway faster, thus allowing more planes to take off and land.
With the Bankra Masjid Committee turning down the Airport Authority of India’s proposal to relocate the century-old mosque, the AAI has now prepared a blueprint to construct a tunnel for worshippers to access the mosque. This will free the land above and allow building of the long-pending taxi-track without affecting the place of worship.
“Work on construction of taxi track F is critical for Kolkata airport to grow. We have exhausted ways to increase runway efficiency and airport capacity. The airport will get saturated in three-four years unless the taxi track is built now. It would have made sense to shift the mosque to the boundary but, since efforts made over two decades have failed, we have prepared a plan that will allow the construction of the taxi track while allowing the mosque to remain and function at the present site,” airport director Kaushik Bhattacharjee told TOI.
“The tunnel will cost Rs 60 crore-Rs 70 crore. Construction of the taxi track with a foundation of 2 metres will start on the surface once the tunnel is in use,” Bhattacharjee explained.
Taxi track F is important to increase the capacity of the secondary runway (half of the primary runway’s) because of its proximity to taxi track A that is used now. “Once taxi track F (located farther away from the secondary runway) is in use, flight operations on taxi track A will not be affected when planes taxi,” Bhattacharjee said. The secondary runway is in operation whenever the primary runway is shut down for repair work or for other reasons.
The current 300-metre fenced pathway from Jessore Road to the mosque is along an arc, but the proposed 223.3-metre tunnel, 7 metres below the surface, will be a straight line, leading worshippers from Gate No.7 along Jessore Road to the masjid. The tunnel entrance and exit will be through Z-shaped ramps on either side. The tunnel will be 3 metres wide and have a height of 3.4 metres. There will be four ventilation shafts along the passage.
But, first, two challenges need to be overcome. The proposal needs to be approved by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and also get the consent from the mosque committee. The first is a particularly formidable challenge as the agency is wary of planes passing over a tunnel. In Delhi airport, too, a road is proposed under a taxiway. There are airports in other parts of the world, including O’Hara airport in Chicago, US, and Leipzig Halle airport in Germany, that have tunnels under the taxiway.
21/12/19 Times of India
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A mosque situated on the northern edge of the secondary runway — nearly 250 metres inside the airport’s operational area — has prevented its extension. A fenced pathway that leads worshippers from the Bankra neighbourhood across Jessore Road to the mosque has also come in the way of a taxi-track that is crucial for departing planes to reach the primary runway faster, thus allowing more planes to take off and land.
With the Bankra Masjid Committee turning down the Airport Authority of India’s proposal to relocate the century-old mosque, the AAI has now prepared a blueprint to construct a tunnel for worshippers to access the mosque. This will free the land above and allow building of the long-pending taxi-track without affecting the place of worship.
“Work on construction of taxi track F is critical for Kolkata airport to grow. We have exhausted ways to increase runway efficiency and airport capacity. The airport will get saturated in three-four years unless the taxi track is built now. It would have made sense to shift the mosque to the boundary but, since efforts made over two decades have failed, we have prepared a plan that will allow the construction of the taxi track while allowing the mosque to remain and function at the present site,” airport director Kaushik Bhattacharjee told TOI.
“The tunnel will cost Rs 60 crore-Rs 70 crore. Construction of the taxi track with a foundation of 2 metres will start on the surface once the tunnel is in use,” Bhattacharjee explained.
Taxi track F is important to increase the capacity of the secondary runway (half of the primary runway’s) because of its proximity to taxi track A that is used now. “Once taxi track F (located farther away from the secondary runway) is in use, flight operations on taxi track A will not be affected when planes taxi,” Bhattacharjee said. The secondary runway is in operation whenever the primary runway is shut down for repair work or for other reasons.
The current 300-metre fenced pathway from Jessore Road to the mosque is along an arc, but the proposed 223.3-metre tunnel, 7 metres below the surface, will be a straight line, leading worshippers from Gate No.7 along Jessore Road to the masjid. The tunnel entrance and exit will be through Z-shaped ramps on either side. The tunnel will be 3 metres wide and have a height of 3.4 metres. There will be four ventilation shafts along the passage.
But, first, two challenges need to be overcome. The proposal needs to be approved by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and also get the consent from the mosque committee. The first is a particularly formidable challenge as the agency is wary of planes passing over a tunnel. In Delhi airport, too, a road is proposed under a taxiway. There are airports in other parts of the world, including O’Hara airport in Chicago, US, and Leipzig Halle airport in Germany, that have tunnels under the taxiway.
21/12/19 Times of India
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