Sunday, April 27, 2008

SECONDARY RUNWAY IN TAKEOFF MODE


SECONDARY RUNWAY IN TAKEOFF MODE
After Its Expansion By 1,400 Metres, Chennai Will See An Increased Traffic Of Bigger Planes Like 747s And A-300s
V Ayyappan TNN

Chennai: As the fate of the Chennai airport expansion plan — construction of a parallel runway, taxi way and a terminal — has run into land acquisition problems, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has decided to speed up the extension of the 2,085-m secondary runway by 1,400 metres as a temporary measure.
Currently, the secondary runway is only used by small aircraft including 70-seater ATRs which fly on shorter routes such as Chennai-Madurai. Extending this runway will allow the airport to use it for landings and take-offs for wide-bodied aircraft such as 747s and A-300s as well. Air Traffic controllers are currently being trained to handle flights on the existing runway and the secondary one simultaneously, said a senior official. This will help the airport to handle additional traffic.
The decision to extend the secondary runway has been taken in light of the fact that the state gov-ernment has expressed difficulty in acquiring 1,069 acres of land required west of Adyar river for building a new parallel runway. The government has so far acquired just 300 acres of the identified land because costs of acquisition have become prohibitive.
This has come as a blow to the AAI which was gearing up to execute the expansion plan after Ma-dras High Court cleared the project by dismissing objections raised by residents and builders in the area. The airport which handles 7.5 million passengers every year, is now left with just one option to augment aircraft handling capacity - extend the secondary runway and install an Instrument Landing System (ILS) to make it capable of h o s t i n g landings. This will then help the airport to han-dle an additional 23 flights per hour as against the current 27 per hour. Struggling to cope with the rise in traffic — close to 400 operations everyday — it was only recently that the AAI opened the secondary runway at Chennai for takeoffs by small aircraft.
The cross runway operations thereby helped the airport to transfer take-offs of smaller aircraft like ATRs used by low-cost airlines from the 3,658-metre primary runway to the smaller secondary runway, said airport director Dinesh Kumar.
Speeding up the extension of the secondary runway will be easier than pushing for a parallel run-way because of two reasons: only 140 acres of land is required for it and the ministry of civil avia-tion has already applied for clearance for the project from the Public Investment Board and the ministry of environment and forests.
The only likely impediment will be faced by the technical wing because the runway has to be ex-tended over the river - a spot prone to flooding during rains. To coincide with the runway expansion, AAI is also planning to build a massive 70,000 square me-ter domestic passenger terminal II on the northern side of the existing domestic terminal. "The first floor will be used for departure while second floor will be used for arrival,” said Dinesh Kumar.
From an annual growth rate of 11 per cent in 2001-2002, passenger movement in Chennai has shot up to 51 per cent in 2006-2007. The new terminal would bring about massive addition of space and in turn augment passenger handling capacity, he said. “The new terminal is expected to take care of the domestic passenger growth expected in the next five years.
The idea is to equip the airport to handle more passengers by the time the expansion works gets going.” Construction will be funded from the Rs 1,800 crore earmarked for the expansion project, he added. Incidentally, the expansion plan is well behind schedule — the targeted date of completion was 2010.

AAI chairman K Ramalingam said construction of the parallel runway would be taken up in due course despite the cost escalation and trouble in land acquisition. “Many such works will be handled in phases,” he said.
10 more parking bays in 2009 Chennai:
The Airports Authority of India is all set to lift the passenger facilities and aesthetics of the Chennai airport to international standards by 2010. A short-term infrastructure augmentation programme — including modernization of existing terminals, construction of more parking bays, installation of stateof-the-art weather monitoring systems and air traffic control equipment — has been kicked off for better handling of passenger and aircraft traffic. “We are working to make Chennai airport on a par with the best airports in the world,” said Dinesh Kumar, the airport director.
Ten more parking bays will be built next year. Four of them will be large enough to accommodate the wide-bodied 747. Three remote aircraft parking stands, big enough to park the giant Airbus 380, have already been built as more airlines have asked for permission to operate out of Chennai. At present, the airport has 57 aircraft parking bays. As part of modernisation, the domestic terminal space was increased by 980 sq mt and the first floor opened for departures. Today, the domestic terminal is spread over is 19,000 sq mt, which includes departure I and departure II. International arrival is being modernized through renovation of the existing terminal in two phases. The first phase saw setting up of four green channel counters, 10 red channel customs counters and six inclined bay baggage conveyor belts, a unique feature.
The second phase is in progress. At present, the international terminal is spread over 37,156 sq mt. Passengers who use the airport frequently also feel the need for upgradation of facilities. “The number of check-in counters, baggage-scanning machines and security-check counters need to be doubled in both domestic and international terminals,” says D Sudhakara Reddy, president of Air Passenger Association of India.
“The 32 check-in counters in each terminal are not adequate to handle the steep rise in passenger traffic. There are long queues every day, affecting departure of the flights during peak hours,” an airline official said. — V Ayyappan

Madurai airport upgrade promised

MADURAI: The Tamil Nadu government had given administrative sanction to acquire 614.33 acres of land to expand the Madurai airport, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said, laying the foundation stone for a terminal building here on Saturday.

The government had requested the Civil Aviation Ministry to share the cost of Rs 110 crore for the acquisition. Cost-sharing was not a pre-condition, but the government expected the Ministry to extend “50 per cent cooperation for the project.”

Stating that the Sethusamudram Ship Channel Projectcould have become a reality by last year but for hindrance created by certain forces, the Chief Minister said similar obstacles could crop up for the airport also. “People would try to stall this also in the interest of the poor and farmers,” he said with a tinge of sarcasm.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the government were ready to go all out, even by laying down lives, to aid farmers. Mr. Karunanidhi said the country required necessary infrastructure to face global competition in future.

On the country’s development under the United Progressive Alliance regime, he said: “The sun [the DMK] is giving light for the world and the ‘hand’ [the Congress] has lit it.” He sought support from the “hammer and sickle” [the Left parties] too.

Praful Patel, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, promised that the Madurai airport would become an international one. “The day the terminal is inaugurated an international flight will land here.” Stating that Tamil Nadu was the only State to get three airports out of 35 non-metro airports that were being upgraded or modernised, he attributed it to the efforts of the Chief Minister.

Airports Authority of India Chairman K. Ramalingam said the groundwork for the expansion of Chennai airport had begun; work would start soon.

The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone for two information technology parks that would come up at Ilanthaikulam and Vadapalanji on the city’s outskirts. The Union government has accorded special economic zone status for both.

The park at Ilandaikulam is to be on 28.91 acres and the one at Vadapalanji on 239.58 acres. ELCOT will develop an IT building with an area of one million square feet in 10 acres of land at a cost of Rs. 300 crore on public-private partnership basis. It will develop common infrastructure at a cost of Rs. 30 crore.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/27/stories/2008042750360100.htm

Monday, April 21, 2008

Chennai's second international airport to come up earlier than planned at Sriperumbudur news

Persistent problems with land acquisition may force construction of a second international airport for Chennai at the outlying township of Sriperumbudur, much earlier than planned. The date for giving the capital of State of Tamil Nadu a new airport has now been advanced to 2015, about nine years earlier than originally planned.

The greenfield project will be taken up on 4,822 acres of land near Sriperumbudur, northwest of Chennai, at an estimated cost of Rs3,500 crore mainly because of unexpected resistance relating to land acquisition in the Rs2,350-crore modernisation and expansion project of the Kamaraj International Airport at Meenambakkam in the city of Chennai.

According to State government officials, the search for a private consortium to build the airport is likely to commence soon. It is expected that the private consortium will be offered a 74 per cent stake, while the State and central government retain 13 per cent each.

The State government has expressed its difficulty in acquiring the required 1,069 acres of land west of the Adyar river to build a parallel runway as part of phase-II of the Meenambakkam expansion plan. Officials feel they may not be able to acquire more than 300 acres of the land, as costs have become prohibitively high.

Costs apart, there also problems in freeing the area of habitation entirely.

http://www.domain-b.com/aero/airports/20080421_international_airport.html

Sunday, April 20, 2008

New airport is a high priority: Secy

Chennai: Tamil Nadu transport secretary Debendranath Sarangi has confirmed that the state government was pressing the Centre to take up the Sriperumbudur airport project on a priority basis because the Meenambakkam airport would not be able to handle the growing traffic demands beyond 2015.

Sarangi said a feasibility study was being undertaken by the Airports Authority of India. The Meenambakkam airport and the proposed airport at Sriperumbudur are separated by 25 km as the crow flies and will not come in each other's path, he said.

Chennai handles 10 million passengers a year, and the passenger traffic is projected to grow to 22 million over the next 10 to 12 years when the planned construction of a parallel runway and a second terminal at Meenambakkam phase-II is completed, an AAI official said.

But if the government decides not to acquire land adjacent to the airport, a new airport becomes an absolute necessity.

Work on lengthening the secondary runway at Meenambakkam, from 6,900 to 10,000 feet, is on as part of the phase-I expansion.

Once that is done, it will ease pressure on Meenambakkam and with some deft management can keep the traffic going until 2015.

www.timesofindia.com

Second intenational airport likely 9 years before schedule

CHENNAI: The city is likely to get a spanking new airport by 2015, nine years before the earlier D-day. The greenfield project will be taken up on 4,822 acres of land near Sriperumbudur, northwest of Chennai, at an estimated cost of Rs 3,500 crore.

The dates have been advanced in light of certain trouble — largely relating to land acquisition — that cropped up in the Rs 2,350-crore modernisation and expansion project of Kamaraj International Airport at Meenambakkam.

Unlike Bangalore and Hyderabad, Chennai's old airport will not be shut down when the new one comes up. Rather, the city will have two airports like those planned in Delhi and Mumbai. The search for a private consortium to build the airport will start soon. It will be offered a 74% stake, while the state and central governments will hold 13% each.

Officials told The Times of India that the state government had expressed difficulty in acquiring the 1,069 acres of land required west of the Adyar river for building a parallel runway as part of phase-II of the Meenambakkam expansion plan.

It is proving tough to get more than 300 acres of the land identified as the costs are prohibitively high. It's also difficult to clear the entire area of habitation, a state government official said. At current prices, the government estimates it will cost Rs 2,000 crore to acquire the land.

Besides, the Madras High Court recently ruled that the government could acquire land, but it's learnt that chief minister M Karunanidhi is not keen on displacing too many households in the area as he anticipates an adverse political fallout.

In the wake of these developments, the civil aviation ministry, in consultation with the state government, decided to speed up the greenfield airport at Sriperumbudur. Land for the new airport can be acquired easily as it belongs to the government.

Joint secretary, ministry of civil aviation, K N Shrivastava said air traffic was likely to grow faster in Chennai than earlier projected and would justify the decision on a new airport. The ministry will set up a committee to decide how flights will be distributed between the two airports. It is too early to be specific on which flights (international, domestic and low-cost airlines) will operate from where, an official said.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/Second_intenational_airport_likely_9_years_before_schedule/articleshow/2962938.cms

Thursday, April 17, 2008

CALL TO JOIN NATIONAL LEVEL ACTION

Join hands to raise our collective voice against

Un-Democratic, Unjust, Anti-People
& Pro-Corporate

The Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2007
and
The Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, 2007.

Join Dharna
at
Jantar Mantar, Delhi
28TH TO 30 APRIL, 2008


Dear Friends,

Today, as the State continues with the mad frenzy in the name of 'development' and 'economic growth', rural and urban poor face displacement and dispossession at an unprecedented scale. Not a day passes by when newspapers or channels in India does not have a story on yet another land acquisition, another resistance against corporate land grab or police atrocities on peaceful demonstrators. The government seems to have abdicated all responsibilities, even the pretence, of a "Welfare State". It is now nothing more than a puppet of industrialists and capitalists, snatching all natural resources away from the people. On the other hand, for the multitudes-Dalits, Adivasis, agricultural workers, farmers, fish workers, artisans, forest dwellers- who have been facing the harsh reality of displacement and complete dispossession for years, there doesn't seem to be even the hope of rehabilitation now. But be it in Nandigram or Jagatisinghpur, be it against uprooting people in the name of SEZs, mining or big dams or against the 'illegalisation' of urban poor, our country reverberates with voices of protest and struggle like never before. People are resisting the snatching away of the means of their lives and livelihood. They are resisting the theft and transfer of natural and common property resources into private hands for private profit. They are resisting the gross undermining of democracy and social justice that goes on in the name of development

It is the midst of all this that the Central Government has brought forth two Bills-The Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2007 and the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, 2007. Introduced purportedly to strike a balance between the need for land for development and other purposes and protecting the interests of the persons whose lands are statutorily acquired, both the Bills will have far reaching impact if enacted. In effect, these Bills sanction displacement and loot of more and more land from the people for the profit of corporations and private investors. The Land Acquisition Bill allows land to be forcefully acquired in favour of private companies and investors, thus including private purpose in the definition of "public purpose". It is more regressive and anti-people than even the original Colonial Act! While the government talks of protecting the rights of those whose lands are acquired, it is mere lip service. The R&R Bill doesn't even guarantee basics like land for land and alternative livelihood based rehabilitation. The issue of urban displacement has been completely sidestepped yet again

Today the demand of people's struggle across the country is one- a decentralised development planning process which ensures 'development' that is truly people centric and bases itself firmly on the principles of democracy, social justice and equity. Since concerns regarding development planning, land acquisition and resettlement and rehabilitation are intrinsically linked with one another and cannot be addressed in isolation, people's movements and organisations have, for several years now, been demanding the enactment of a Comprehensive Legislation on Development Planning, No enforced displacement, and Just rehabilitation. In fact a draft of the same has also been prepared based on 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments which, in the true spirit of democracy, vest gram sabhas, municipalities with the right to formulate district and metropolitan level development plans. Ignoring these demands, the Government is keen on pushing these two Bills that instead of ensuring minimum and no enforced displacement endorse displacement. There is no doubt that these anti –people legislations have been brought forth under the influence and for the benefit of big corporations and private industrial and capitalists interests.

It is imperative that we, the people's movements and organisations, challenge and oppose this move. It is important that we, the rural and urban poor, those struggling for just rehabilitation and those who oppose forced displacement and destruction carried on in the name of 'development', join hands and raise our collective voices. We must question our elected representatives and bring them to understand and voice our positions on these issues. We must challenge the Central government and compel them to heed.

We call on you join us for a massive dharna in Jantar Mantar, Delhi from 28th to 30th April 2008. We request friends and comrades from across the country struggling on diverse issues to reach Delhi on these dates to discuss and voice their questions, issues and concerns at the national level. It is critical at this juncture that we come together and raise our collective voices against displacement and for a just development planning.

Please do let us know of you participation and details regarding arrival and departure.

We sincerely hope you will join us in this very important struggle!

In Solidarity,

Ashok Chaudhary (National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers)
Gautam Bandhopadhyay (Nadi Ghati Morcha)
Ulka Mahajan (SEZ Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti)
Medha Patkar (Narmada Bachao Andolan & National Alliance of People's Movements)
Gabrielle D (Pennurumai Iyyakam &NAPM)
Simpreet Singh (Ghar bachao Ghar Banao Andolan)
Rajendra Ravi (National Alliance of People's Movements)
Roma (National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers)
Sr.Celia (National Alliance of People's Movements)
Bhupendra Rawat (Jan Sangharsh Vahini)
Suniti S R (Vishthapan Viroshi Sangharsh Samiti)
Geetha D (Nirman Mazdoor Panchayat Sangam)
And several others movements and organisations …

Contact Adresses:
· NAPM, C/o Chemical Majdoor Sabha, Haji Habib Building, A-wing, Naigoan Cross Road, Dadar (E), Mumbai - 400014
· Sangharsh 2007, c/o Bandhya Mukti Morcha, 7, Jantar Mantar, New Delhi

Contact Numbers: Rajendra Ravi-09868200316
Simpreet Singh-099363065; Vijayan/Sridevi 011-26680883, 26680914

Tuesday, April 15, 2008