AIRPORT RUNWAYS TO BE LINKED

Interlinking To Help Clear Taxiways Faster And Prevent Hold-Up Of Flights In Air
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is planning three linkways connecting the main and secondary runways and the introduction of more parking bays for efficient handling of aircraft. The works are expected to start in April. The proposed linkways and parking bays are part of the ongoing airport expansion project and will be taken up in three phases over the next four months. Sixty-seven parking bays, between the main and secondary runways, are planned. These are expected to help the airport in better onground and on-air handling of aircraft when cross-runway operations are introduced after the secondary runway is extended across the Adyar river next year.

The three linkways will be connected to the main runway at three places — near the cargo terminal where the secondary runway and the main one intersect, near the delta taxiway, and near the echo taxiway that is almost in the middle of the runway. These linkways have been planned with a dual purpose — faster vacation of runway after landing and to facilitate future cross-runway operations. “The works will start next month at the intersecting point. The linkways will be built in phases so that a large part of the main runway can be used for aircraft movement during daytime.

We have decided to restrict use of the runway between 10 am and 5 pm because people will be working 150 metres away from the centre line of the main runway,” said airport director K Natarajan. He said 2,085 metres of the 3,680-metre main runway would be available for use during the construction of the first two linkways. The main runway will be completely shut between 10 am and 5 pm for two months, probably from May, when work on the third linkway is taken up. “The linkways will help a landing aircraft quickly vacate the runway and leave it open for more landings and takeoffs. This will substantially increase the aircraft-handling capacity of the airport in the long run.

These linkways will also act as angular exit taxiways for aircraft landing on the main runway.” A senior official said the network of linkways would also reduce the separation allotted between each aircraft on-air. “Now, we have to allot 16 to 18 miles. This can be reduced to 10 or even five miles if aircraft are able to vacate the runways immediately.”

IN A NUTSHELL Why:

The project is expected to equip the airport carry out better on-ground and on-air handling of aircraft by quickening the time taken by an aircraft to vacate the runway on landing When:

Works will be taken up from April to July 2009 67 parking bays to come up between primary and secondary runways The network of these three linkways will also act as angular exit taxiways for aircraft landing on the main runway Chennai airport handles close to 400 take-offs and landings everyday, of which approximately 192 are take-offs Passenger traffic: 75,000 per day approximately

LINK TO THE FUTURE

The linkways will reduce the separation between two aircraft in air. Instead of 16 to 18 miles, 10 or even five miles of separation will be adequate The linkways have been planned with a dual purpose — faster vacation of runway after landing and to facilitate future cross-runway operations Four international airlines will have to reschedule their daytime operations till the construction work is on The network of linkways will help crossrunway operations after the secondary runway is extended across the Adyar river next year Domestic airlines to have only short-haul flights during period of construction Operation on main runway to be partlyrestricted in April and completely stopped in May and June between 10 am and 5 pm

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOI/navigator.asp?Daily=TOICH&login=default&AW=1237433214203

Work on runway across Adyar takes off

Work on runway across Adyar takes off

CHENNAI: The city will by next year have something in common with Atlanta, Brooklyn and Madeira Island -- a runway across a river.

A year from now, aircraft using the secondary runway at Chennai airport will make its run for take-off over a bridge across the Adyar river. Airports Authority of India (AAI) has started construction works to extend the 2,035-metre secondary runway by 1,400 metres, including 835 metres on the northern side of the river. AAI is getting technical assistance from IIT-Madras because the river is flood-prone. Mumbai airport has an end of its runway across the Mithi river, but this stretch is used only for taxing.

The existing runway ends on the banks of the river. A bridge, to be designed similar to that of a box culvert, will be constructed across the river and the runway will extend over it towards the north. Land filling and levelling works that started December-end are progressing well to meet the 2010 deadline. The state government has acquired 120 acres and handed over to AAI for the project. The extension of the secondary runway is being carried out at a cost of Rs 430 crore.

The runway works without the bridge will cost Rs 230 crore, while construction cost of the bridge is estimated to cost Rs 200 crore," said a senior AAI official. KGL Constructions has bagged the contract to build the runway excluding the bridge, while a separate contract will be awarded for the bridge construction. "The tender will be awarded very soon," said airport director K Natarajan.

"The extended secondary runway will help us operate one departure for every arrival, which will be highly useful to manage peak hour traffic. The secondary runway intersects the primary runway only at the end portion near the GST Road side of the airport. This leaves the entire runway free for operation. The runway can also be used as a taxiway when a parallel runway is constructed," he added.

An official at the engineering wing said that the runway construction would be completely mechanised. "It will be laid by using a slip form paver' machine, which does the job 10 times faster than conventional construction methods. The machine is capable of laying 1,500 cubic metre space per day," he added. "We have taken all precautions to prevent water from flooding the runway. AAI had been monitoring the flood levels for the last couple of years. The runway level is going to be atleast one-and-a-half metre above the hightest flood level marked during the 2005 rains."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/Work_on_runway_across_Adyar_takes_off/articleshow/4044137.cms

Meeting in EVP Town Site on jan-26th-2009

Dear all,

All EVP Township customers are requested to present in EVP Town Tharapakkam on Jan-26th-2009 around 9.00 A.M.

Need to make our presence in the Tharapakkam gramma panchayat Meeting and sign in the document to show our protest against land acqusition.

Make your presence...............

Army delays handing over land for expansion

Army delays handing over land for expansion

CHENNAI: The army authorities are delaying the handing over of 20 acres for the expansion of the international departure terminal adjacent to the international departure area of the Chennai airport, according to officials of the Airports Authority of India.

A transmission station of the army is functioning at the place now. Sources in the Airports Authority of India said officials had been in touch with the army for the past 10 years for the transfer of the land.

While taking up the matter with Defence Minister A.K. Antony, the State government explained that the land was crucial for the expansion and for building a flyover, air-conditioning plant and power station.

Following this, the Union Cabinet in July last decided to hand over the land to the AAI on condition that the State government provide an equal value of land to the army; and the AAI bear the entire expense of relocating the army transmitter station, including the tower, to an adjacent land at Pallavaram.

The AAI and the State government agreed to these conditions.
A senior official of the State government said the government had identified 72 acres of its land on East Coast Road near Mahabalipuram. Following the meetings with the Defence Minister, the Ministry issued orders for handing over the land to the AAI, said another AAI official.

several rounds of meeting among the army, the AAI and the State government, the land was yet to the handed over to the AAI.In fact, the AAI had prepared a plan for an alternative site for relocating the transmitter station and submitted it to the army.

While the expansion was in full swing at the domestic terminal, nothing was happening in the international terminal owing to the delay in handing over the land, AAI authorities said.
Officials of the Defence Ministry said the AAI was required to make alternative arrangements for shifting the defence establishment. Then only would the land be handed over to it.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/01/13/stories/2009011354870500.htm

Pollution assessment norms for builders to be changed

Pollution assessment norms for builders to be changed

New Delhi: The government will soon make key changes in the way companies report the environmental impact of their construction projects.

The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on Friday that a draft notification on amendments to the Environmental Impact Asssessment Act, 2006, would be put up soon to invite public comments.


Key modifications proposed include making it mandatory for companies to publicize their environmental clearance, exempting projects that employ non-polluting technologies from environmental impact asssessments (EIA), and fast tracking modernization projects in states that have yet to constitute EIA boards.

If modifications take effect, they will significantly impact the way EIAs are conducted and cleared. ‘Mint’ has previously reported instances of companies presenting shoddy reports, often with glaring instances of plagiarism, as environmental clearances.

Government officials say a growing pile of projects needing clearance, as well as understaffed approval committees, are the main reasons that impede thorough and accurate assessments of reports submitted by companies. ‘Mint’ had also reported last year on the likelihood of amendments to the EIA. “As of now, there are 700 industrial projects waiting to be put on the agenda of the clearance committee. It is a welcome move because infrastructure projects need to be put on the fast track,” said K.P. Nyati, head, environment policy division at industry lobby group Confederation of Indian Industry. “...if the project has already been inspected once, then there is no need to re-scrutinize it.”

Environmentalists say compulsory disclosure of EIA is welcome, but are worried about easing laws for project modernization and expansion.

“This is a critical issue,” said Leo Saldanha, coordinator, Environment Support Group, an activist group.

“The Chennai airport is being modernized and expanded, and there is a lot of protest. The expansion will dislocate a lot of people as well as affect a neighbouring river, which would involve a clearance.”

http://www.livemint.com/2009/01/16233453/Pollution-assessment-norms-for.html

Rope in residents for development: Medha

Rope in residents for development: Medha

We have been residing at Choolaimedu for the past twenty years. We are clueless why the government, which provided us voter cards, ‘ has failed to provide proper sanitation facility. — Poonguldzhi, Choolaimedu ‘ Though the government had promised to allot houses two years ago, we are still waiting.

We are ready to construct hous- es on our own, but the govern- ‘ ment had instructed us not to build any houses. — Sathya, Sudhadhira NagarDemanding amend ments in the Jawaharlal Nehru national urban renewal mission (JNNURM), social activist Medha Patkar announced that she would produce an alternate draft shortly.

Speaking at the conference organised by the ‘Unorganised Workers Federation’ in the city on Friday, she said, “Every city development plan should be drafted after consulting the people. Due to implementation of coastal projects, fishermen are forced to leave their livelihood and move to far off places unfit for their work.” While companies are allowed to select suitable lands in the city, slum dwellers who settle down on the river banks are termed encroachers. Whenever the poor ask for houses closer to their source of livelihood, their demands are brushed aside, she said.

Ms Patkar said the government perhaps did not want the city to have poor and working class people. She wondered why the government was forcing the poor to migrate to sub urbs and providing land to the corporates. Under the guise of development the government is segregating the people and paving the way for a new kind of communalism, she said. Rather providing tax concessions and other benefits to IT companies and chemical hubs, the government should give concessions to the working class people who really needed them, she said.

Taking part in the protest against the Chennai airport expansion project held at Ramapuram, she said, “The acquisition of 137 acres for the airport expansion in the first phase is sufficient for the parallel runway project. The project will affect more than 10,000 families residing in four villages. If the government is really in need of the land, it should provide rehabilitation without compromising the livelihood of the people.”

http://www.dc-epaper.com/DC/DCC/2009/01/03/ArticleHtmls/03_01_2009_005_001.shtml?Mode=0

Medha makes a difference

reporter’s diary - Medha makes a difference
BY K. KARTIKEYAN
CHENNAI

Clad in a wrinkled cotton saree, Medha Patkar found a huge following in the north with her down-toearth demeanour when she founded the Narmada Bachao Andolan. She still managed to charm people in the Dravidian heartland of Chennai where she became the torchbearer for what her critics called as ''anti-development demonstration'' against the Chennai airport expansion project.


The residents, whose homes are threatened by the project, rejoiced over her participation and the visibility it has given to their agita tion against their land being acquired for the airport expansion. But Friday's events are also a stark reminder of the fact that the movements mushrooming here under various banners lack a leader of her stature.


Unmindful of the opponents she has been pitted against so far, the 54-yearold Medha Patkar gradually and successfully evolved into a staunch symbol and opponent of state-sponsored land acquisition by corporate giants who under the pretext of development were depriving people of their rights. Starting from the 20-day marathon hungerstrike that she observed in protest against the Sardar Sarovar Dam across the Narmada river in Gujarat and her later intervention in Nandigram and Singur in West Bengal, Ms Patkar has displayed consummate ease in opposing the forced resettlement of the marginalized section, particularly tribes, from their traditional habitats.


Though the stakeholders in Friday’s agitation in Chennai did not appear to be poor, the very idea of displacement or rather resettlement was convincing enough for Ms Patkar to travel down south and be a part of their agitation. It is this mantra - protection of the right to livelihood and proper resettlement - which has attracted people to her cause cutting across economic barriers. This is where other social and rights activists have failed.


There are several activists campaigning against resettlement and land acquisition. But they all lack her perseverance. They are mostly involved in snap hungerstrikes or demonstrations, which the official machinery often ignores. Also these other activists are either pro-rich or pro-poor.

Apparently, they have failed to grasp that resettlement rights are determined not on just economic grounds, a principle which Medha Patkar proved during Friday’s demonstrations.

http://www.dc-epaper.com/DC/DCC/2009/01/03/ArticleHtmls/03_01_2009_004_006.shtml?Mode=0

Medha to protest city airport expansion plan

Medha to protest city airport expansion plan
CHENNAI

As the central and state governments have turned a deaf ear to their appeals, residents of Manapakkam, Gerugambakkam, Kovur, Kolapakkam and Tharapakkam have garnered the support of social activist and Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) founder Medha Patkar in their battle against the proposed Chennai airport expansion project for another runway.

Ms Medha Patkar will join thousands of people from these areas who have come under the banner of United People’s Forum for Survival (UPFS) for a demonstration at the Manapakkam-Ramapuram junction on Friday.

“We are hopeful that Medha’s presence will help us meet and explain the prob lem to Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi, who has not been accessible for us for a year now,” said Somasekaran, vice-president of UPFS.

Even the Airports Authority of India had expressed disapproval over the plan for the proposed secondary runway, which had not been approved even in principle by the Prime Minister’s Infrastructure Committee, he added.

AAI was content with the expansion of the existing cross runway and future implementation of the greenfield international airport and not the secondary runway, the resi dents claimed. Questioning the need for a secondary runway,

Somasekaran referred to Air Safety Expert retired Captain A Ranganathan's argument that the switch over to satellite based RNP (Required Navigation Performance) was a viable solution instead of the expansion to be carried out at a very high cost and which would lead to these residents losing their homes.

Technological expansion would be sufficient to accommodate 30 million passengers in the future up from the existing 23 million, he argued. The compensation package worth Rs 3,000 crore and the land cost of Rs 1,500 crore could be saved for the Civil Aviation Ministry if the economically and technically unviable secondary runway project was shelved, UPFS secretary Brinda asserted.

http://www.dc-epaper.com/DC/DCC/2009/01/02/ArticleHtmls/02_01_2009_004_011.shtml?Mode=0

Capt. Ranganathan Supporting Chennai airport expansion affected People on 02-Jan-2009

Medha Patkar Supporting Chennai Airport expansion affected People on 02-Jan-2009 in Chennai

Medha Patkar Supporting Chennai Airport expansion affected People on 02-Jan-2009 in Chennai

Patkar joins agitation against Chennai airport expansion

Patkar joins agitation against Chennai airport expansion

Chennai (PTI): Noted social activist Medha Patkar on Friday joined agitation against the proposed expansion of Chennai airport, asserting that the project had displaced hundreds of people and caused environmental hazards.

Taking part in a demonstration here, she said that the government had 'failed' to assess the environmental impact of the project as it caused flooding from the nearby Adyar river during peak monsoon.

"The expansion is an encroachment on people's land without their consent. It is against the very rules of rehabilitation that are against displacement of anyone in development, emphasised in the National Rehabilitation Policy," she said.

Patkar, who has participated in similar demonstrations in Chennai earlier, demanded that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi should ask the Airports Authority of India to reconsider the project.

Later, speaking to reporters, Patkar appealed to the state and Centre governments not to displace the poor while implementing urban development plans. She also said that government should consult the poor while formulating urban development programmes. "Currently, no government is doing that," she claimed.

Patkar alleged that a political-corporate nexus was trying to pocket all available land for real estate purposes. "Corporates are urging the government to undertake real estate development for their private agenda," she said.

The project site has already been shifted by the government due to opposition from the locals as well as political parties, including the PMK.

The project was shifted to the present area, comprising 1099 acres on Tharapakkam, Gerugambakkam,Manapakkam and Kolapakkam.

http://www.hindu.com/holnus/004200901030331.htm

Medha Patkar asks govt to drop land acquisition plan

Medha Patkar asks govt to drop land acquisition plan


CHENNAI: Madha Patkar's arrival in the city provided a boost to residents of Manapakkam, Kolapakkam, Gerugambakkam, Tharapakkam and Kovur who have been opposing government acqusition of land for the proposed Chennai airport expansion.

Patkar has pledged support to hundreds whose lands have been identified for acquisition. After taking part in a protest meet organised by residents at the Manapakkam-Ramapuram junction on Mount Poonamallee Road near MIOT Hospital on Friday, Patkar met Tamil Nadu chief secretary K S Sripathy and urged the government to drop the proposal to acquire land and also to discuss the issue with affected residents.

Earlier, Patkar told media persons that the government and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) should take into account views of residents and that "no plan should be imposed undemocratically on the people." She said that all information pertaining to a project should be put up before the people as there was lack of transparency during the initial stages of infrastructure projects.

She criticised the government move to acquire land even though it could lead to displacement of about 1,000 families, and said that it reflected "ad hoc planning." Patkar pointed out that the National Rehabilitation Policy disapproved of displacement without rehabilitation. "Thousands of people were evicted with the approval of government for projects done on an ad hoc mode across the country," she said.

Promoting projects assuming that traffic would multiply in the future was improper, according to Patkar. She said that the economic slowdown was slowly impacting the country and that only small airports were needed, not grand structures. She referred to the "politician-corporate nexus working in planning grand infrastructure projects."

Residents who took part in the protest reiterated that they were not ready to give up their land because they did not want to be relocated to another place. "All of us have purchased houses by taking loans.

We continue to pay monthly instalments because the state government has not issued the final notice confirming that the identified locations will be taken up for proposed airport expansion work," said a resident.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/Medha_Patkar_asks_govt_to_drop_land_acquisition_plan/articleshow/3928534.cms

Medha Patkar flays airport expansion

Medha Patkar flays airport expansion

CHENNAI: Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar on Friday described the airport expansion plan here as “encroachment on people’s land.” Patkar was in the city to participate in a demonstration held by the United People’s Forum for Survival (UPFFS) against the project.
“The airport expansion is encroachment on people’s land without their consent.

It is against the very rules of rehabilitation that are against displacement of anyone in development. The National Rehabilitation Policy emphasis this fact,” she said.
Even though the houses and plots were taken over by the government under the rules, it nevertheless showed ad hoc planning because it failed to take care of the displaced people.

“I know Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel only too well to understand that all this ambitious planning is aimed at corporatisation of the sector,” Patkar said. The government failed to assess the environmental hazards that were bound to crop up because of the parallel runway.

“It is the political-corporate nexus at work, which is not in the best interests of the people.” Patkar urged Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to hold a dialogue with the Airports Authority of India on the issue. It was big corporate houses that would benefit from such projects with bigger profits in their account, she said.

“Today, it is the building of a parallel runway and tomorrow they will want malls right next to that for further development.

Where does that leave the common man?” Recalling the Nagar Raj Bill, Patkar said displacement was being equated with development and the people’s basic needs were being ignored.

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Medha+Patkar+flays+airport+expansion&artid=yfytzPVRYOM=&SectionID=lifojHIWDUU=&MainSectionID=lifojHIWDUU=&SEO=metha+patkar,+airport+expansion&SectionName=rSY%7C6QYp3kQ=

Demonstration on 02-01-2009

Afftected people of Chennai airport expansion plan, Stages a Demonstration on 02-01-2009,Friday in Manapakkam.

Opposite to MIOT Hospital............

Time: 11.00 A.M - 2.00 P.M
Date:02-01-2009
Day: Friday

Medha Patkar will also be present in the Meeting.....

Affected people, please make your presence and we can request government to reconsider the plan.........

State wants stake in exchange for providing land

CHENNAI: Airport development projects in Tamil Nadu have run into rough weather with the state government declining to give any more free land to the Airports Authority of India (AAI), citing rising land acquisition costs.

Instead, the TN government has proposed turning some of the airports into corporations in which it could take a stake in exchange for providing land. AAI is currently experiencing a drop in air traffic due to the economic slowdown. The slump coupled with privatisation of high revenue-yielding airports at Delhi and Mumbai have eroded the finances of the agency, which depends on fees levied on airlines for its revenue.

Its plans to expand hubs at Coimbatore, Madurai and Tiruchi hinge on acquiring land without incurring high costs. However, in a recent meeting, the state government made it clear to AAI that it would not get land for airport expansion projects free of cost.

"The government has told us that land can be provided free only for the expansion of Chennai airport. It also wants us to prune the requirement of land," said a senior AAI official.

This would impact development work, he said, adding AAI needs close to 900 acres for expanding Coimbatore airport and 616 acres for developing Madurai airport. Sources said the government has suggested that AAI convert each airport into a company and allow them to acquire stakes in it depending on the quantum of land handed over for development. But AAI is against the proposal. State governments have 13% equity share in new airports at Hyderabad and Bangalore. "

The Tamil Nadu government wants AAI to have a similar arrangement for airports in the state without privatising them," an AAI official said. The current stand-off may force AAI to reconsider its options as the agency cannot afford to acquire land on its own. "We lost high revenue-yielding airports of Mumbai and Delhi to private companies.

They paid just an upfront license fee of Rs 150 crore for airports that contributed close to Rs 700 crore from cargo movement alone to the coffers of AAI every year," said a senior AAI official. AAI already has two major projects modernization and expansion of Chennai (Rs 2,000 crore) and Kolkata (Rs 1,800 crore) airports on hand. "These projects will empty out the Rs 3,000 crore cash reserve the AAI has.

The authority is facing a severe cash crunch because decline in air traffic and unpaid air traffic fee by airlines has eaten into the revenue generated by existing airports including Chennai and Kolkata," said an executive director of AAI. "We have had a line-up of airport expansion proposals because air traffic was growing at a healthy 15%.

But now, there is a shocking decline of 20%. This is expected to slow down infrastructure developments," he added.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/Airport_projects_in_limbo_TN_wants_stakes_in_exchange_for_providing_land/articleshow/3891934.cms

CMDA head calls for arbitrators for land acquisition

CMDA head calls for arbitrators for land acquisition

CHENNAI: Land acquisition processes, which often run into legal and political hurdles, should be done through arbitrators appointed for the process, and not through government officials, a top CMDA member secretary Vikram Kapur has said.

Speaking at a session on infrastructure at Pan IIT 2008 at IIT-Madras, Kapur said the responsibility of acquiring lands should not be vested with government servants. "The government should appoint arbitrators for acquiring land.

The arbitrators can ensure that the government does not pay too much for the land, while also upholding the real value the land owner should get," he said. The member secretary advocated that the land owners be paid royalty for the land that they give to the government, for any future returns that might be got from the land.

The schedule of rates of the PWD was outdated and not realistic, as it does not factor in inflationary trends. "Because of this, many contractors are not willing to take up projects. Often there is a single bidder or just a few of them," he said. Many state governments have often run into problems during land acquisition.

The Tamil Nadu government's plans to acquire land for the proposed satellite township projects and the airport expansion project have run into problems, with political parties and residents opposing the move. Kapur said that any infrastructure project must be funded through debts than government funds, even if the user charges are high.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Chennai/CMDA_head_calls_for_arbitrators_for_land_acquisition/articleshow/3864707.cms

Adyar River near Chennai Airport during recent rain.......

Chennai airport surrounding areas during recent rain...

Chennai Airport Surrounding areas during rain...

Compensation given for lands acquired for airport expansion project

Compensation given for lands acquired for airport expansion project

KANCHEEPURAM: Compensation totalling Rs.25 crore was distributed recently to the landowners, who agreed to hand over their lands for the Chennai airport expansion project.

Distributing cheques to 36 out of the 45 landowners at the Collectorate here, Labour Minister T.M. Anbarasan said 126.59 acres had been acquired in Manapakkam and Kolapakkam.

The State government had classified the 126.59 acres of private lands acquired at Manapakkam and Kolapakkam areas into four categories – (a) barren agriculture lands (which are level lands); (b) lands in which earth had been excavated for brick making; (c) unapproved layout area with access to public road; and (d) land in the unapproved layout set aside for road and common purposes.

The compensation for lands coming under category A has been fixed at Rs.1.06 lakh per Cent; for lands classified as category B at Rs.60,000 per Cent and for the category C at Rs.750 per sq.feet or Rs.18 lakhs per ground (2400 sq. ft). Lands falling under category D were not eligible for compensation.

Kancheepuram Collector Santosh K.Misra said the landowners have given their consent for receiving the compensation under Section 7(2) of the Tamil Nadu Acquisition of Land for Industrial Purposes Act 1997.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/12/05/stories/2008120560330400.htm

Airport wall floods surrounding areas

Airport wall floods surrounding areas
V Ayyappan TNN

Chennai: Residents of Manapakkam and Kolapakkam are in deep trouble, thanks to the flood prevention steps taken by the airport. Located on the north western side of the airport and sandwiched between Adyar river and Porur lake, these neighbourhoods have become inundated by floodwater. Stormwater and an overflowing Adyar river have already flooded the river-end of the secondary runway. However, flood will not affect airport operations as the secondary runway is not used regularly.

During heavy rain the overflowing water from Porur lake flows through these neighbourhoods and into the Adyar river. The airport authorities have built a wall to prevent the water from entering their ground. This has resulted in obstructing the water flow causing water logging in the residential areas of Manapakkam, Kolapakkam and Mogalivakkam.When Chembarampakkam reservoir was opened, water from Adyar river started flowing towards the residential areas in Manapakkam and even Porur.

Brinda Brighton, a resident of Manapakkam — one of the neighbourhoods marked for acquisition for airport expansion — said that water from the river had flooded the area. “The clearing and levelling works in the 129 acres acquired for extension work is causing flooding in the locality,” she added. “The problem will get complicated because Airports Authority of India (AAI) is planning to extend the runway further across the river.

Unless the runway level is raised, flooding will affect airport operations in the future, said Captain A Ranganathan, a former pilot.

The expansion works would obstruct the flow of the Adyar river and the flow of floodwater from Porur to the river. Hence, flooding might hamper aircraft operations on the secondary runway and the parallel runway, a former AAI official said.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOI/navigator.asp?Daily=TOICH&login=default&AW=1228104326406

TN Govt Says Manapakkam is a flooding area......

If TN Government say manapakkam,Kollapakkam,Gerugambakkam,Tharapakkam is a low lying area.....Then How come CHENNAI AIRPORT EXPANSION POSSIBLE>>>>.

Surveyor arrested......

http://www.dailythanthi.com/thanthiepaper/firstpage.aspx

Government officer asked 25k to Give Compensation immediately.....

www.dinamalar.com