M A I N   N E W S

Chandigarh airport to go international
Naveen S Garewal
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 19
The Chandigarh Administration's proposal to upgrade Chandigarh Airport to international level has been cleared in principle, with the Union Government allocating a sum of Rs 40 crore for the purpose.

Sandwiched between the Army and IAF areas, the two forces have agreed to give 7.5 acres for the expansion of the current facilities.

Gen S.F. Rodrigues (retd) Administrator, Chandigarh Administration and Punjab Governor, told The Tribune that he had detailed discussions with Mr K. Ramalingam, Chairman, AAI, and all issues pertaining to the extension of runways and location of cargo area had been discussed. “We have worked out the details and there is no problem of any kind to prevent the upgradation of the airport.”

He further said that Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chaiman, Planning Commission, during his recent visit to the city, had conveyed that a sum of Rs 40 crore had been earmarked by the Union Government for the purpose of the upgradation.

UT Finance Secretary S.K. Sandhu said that the project would be undertaken on a "fast track" basis. For this purpose, a committee headed by Chandigarh Deputy Commissioner, R.K. Rao had been formed to work out the modalities of acquiring 5 acres from behind the present air field and another 2.5 acres in front of the airport building.The Chandigarh Administration will give the Army and IAF equal land in some other location that will be worked out by this committee.

Mr Sandhu said the airport that was located in 18 acres at present would be turned into a state-of-the-art international airport in 25 acres with the conservation of space by building underground parking, etc. The cargo area, he confirmed, would be located on the Punjab land across the runway. Gen Rodrigues and Punjab Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, had already held discussion on the issue and agreed to go ahead in principle.

A team of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), that presently controls the Chandigarh Airport, held detailed discussions with the UT Administration two weeks ago and has worked out the modalities for the upgradation. The AAI team has clarified that Chandigarh was not on its list of airports that are to be privatised, so it had no objection in making Chandigarh Airport an international airport. The airport, he said, would remain under the control of the AAI.

Gen Rodrigues has been indicating from time to time that the full potential of a world class city could only be exploited if the city was bought on the world map. He referred to converting Chandigarh airport into an international airport as being under the active consideration at the Central Government level. The proposal has now been accepted and all issues have been cleared, he said.

As part of the plan for providing international facilities at the airport, the existing terminal building would be extended. Facilities would also be provided to accommodate wider aircraft and more passengers.

Besides, facilities such as availability of customs, immigration, health and plant quarantine, cargo shed, adequate size of terminal building to handle international and transit passengers will be required.

Once the Union Cabinet approves converting Chandigarh Airport into an international one, it would also require to take care of issues like night-landing facility, instrument approach landing system, navigational aids like DVOR and bilateral agreements with the country where international operations were planned.