HC rap to Punjab

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday once again, with a sharp rap on the government of Punjab, gave a further thrust to the dream of prospective flyers to and from the Chandigarh International Airport coming true. This time, the court stricture concerns the removal of impediments in the way of the installation of the much-needed advanced CAT-III instrument landing system. Tied to this fog-compliant system is flight landing during poor visibility, a problem that travellers of the region are eagerly looking forward to being solved. The HC’s warning that it would ask Punjab to deposit in the court 50 per cent of the Rs 10,000 crore it had earned should spur the state to speed up steps to ensure that safety standards are maintained.

Ever since the Chandigarh airport was inaugurated in Mohali in September 2015 by PM Modi amid fanfare and high-flying promises, the project has been facing numerous hurdles and controversies. It would not be an exaggeration to point out that but for the High Court’s cognisance of the matter, and its frequent interventions, the passengers’ wait for international flights from the airport would have been longer than the one year when the fully-booked aircraft took off for Dubai and Sharjah in September 2016. 

Over the past couple of years, the court has also had to deal with many more varied cases that eventually paved the way for the airport’s expansion and upgradation. They include the removal of illegal constructions within the radius of 100m in the UT and Mohali, the recarpeting of the runway and the exploring of the possibility of more flights. Time and again, various stakeholders have been threatened, cajoled and goaded into delivering the promise of making the airport the hub and pride of flyers of the region. Now, with the runway being widened to accommodate bigger aircraft with CAT-III facility, 24-hour operations are expected to commence in April. Finally, the hope to reach destinations in Europe, the US and Australia by giving Delhi the bypass, takes wings.