Babudom strikes again: AAI throws spanner in BIAL works
Another problem lands on airport runway
The Times of India
BANGALORE: Even as the Bangalore Metro Rail project is going full steam ahead, the IT city’s other dream project the Bangalore international airport at Devanahalli is running into hitches again.
The project has not met the February deadline set by airport company Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) for signing all agreements including the financial ones. Instead, BIAL CEO Albert Brunner has floated new ‘estimated’ dates: March 20 to start work on the boundary wall and April 15 for financial closure and start of airport construction.
Things appear propitious for these deadlines as all agreements from the state side are over and the BIAL board has cleared most of other agreements for signing. But, there is a hitch over the valuable land of the airport.
"Everyone wants the land. First, 400 acres acquired for the airport was taken away by the state government itself with the aim of commercial profits. Now the Airports Authority of India wants land for residential sites for their officials," officials said.
The BIAL is furious over this, particularly because they say AAI has tried to get this land without discussions.
"AAI has inserted a clause in the air traffic management agreement (CNSATM), insisting on staff housing within airport premises, without letting us know. The agreement was discussed for two years, all clauses were decided upon, an insertion like this is not a good business practice," Brunner told The Times of India.
BIAL has shot off letters to both AAI and the government expressing unhappiness and insisting this clause be deleted. Their contention: there is no airport in Europe or anywhere else which has housing on its site.
"Barracks for maintenance and security staff is provided, but we cannot be wasting commercial space on permanent residential accommodation within our boundary," Brunner stated.
It has been suggested to the AAI that their residential layout could be part of the 400 acres the government has retained. But the government also has its own plans for the area.
"A proper master plan for land use will be prepared. Airport-related facilities should come up there, but the major criteria for allotting that land will be commercial," government officials maintained.
The stand-off has thrown a spanner in the works, as the AAI board now has to be convinced to shift their residential layout outside the airport boundary. Besides, other utilities like Customs and the KSRTC seeking land for housing and depots, which the BIAL has ruled out, have to be accommodated elsewhere.
posted by The Bangalorean @ 3/05/2005 11:48:00 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Kerala to have a fourth airport
Bangalore has been one of the most neglected metros in India. Bangalore is known as the garden city, silicon valley of India and very soon the biotech hub of India. But can you imagine we still don't have an international airport? What a shame.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala - India's only state to have three international airports Kerala are in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode. - is likely to get a fourth one soon.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy announced that his cabinet had decided to go ahead with the Kannur airport.
'We have decided to go ahead with this airport following longstanding demands from various sections of the people in and around Kannur,' Chandy told reporters here after the weekly cabinet meeting Wednesday.
'This would be under a BOT (build operate transfer) basis. Already 400 acres of land have been acquired and the government will invest only when the airport takes concrete shape.'
The other three international airports in Kerala are in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode.
The Kannur airport was a dream of former chief minister E.K. Nayanar that never materialised.
In the Global Investors Meeting at Kochi in January 2003, a proposal worth Rs.6 billion for the Kannur airport was inked by Vivek Nair, son of business magnate Krishnan Nair.
Reports indicate that the Airports Authority of India is expected give the nod any time because all the technical aspects have been cleared.
With 75 percent of exporting textile units located in the districts of Kannur and Kasaragod, the textile sector too has long demanded the airport.
Besides, it will also cater to districts like Coorg in Karnataka, which is just 50 km from the proposed site.
Air-India’s destinations
Bangalore needs global air links
Sir, Amongst many nations, India has achieved a preeminent position as a preferred outsourcing destination. It is Bangalore with its many opportunities and its pool of talent that has propelled India on the world map. Many of the well-known print and visual media of the world have their reporters based in Bangalore or report with Bangalore dateline.
Air-India’s present policy of scheduling flights to benefit a few areas to the detriment of the vast majority of Indian cities does not reflect the principle of fair play expected of a national institution.
At present, the only destination in southern India to which Air-India operates direct flight from the Jeddah is Hyderabad. This has no justification because a large percentage of the travelers between India and Saudi Arabia have final destinations closer to large cities other than Hyderabad. Those traveling to areas closer to Bangalore and Madras are forced either to travel on other airlines or suffer the inconvenience of a long and tiring detour through Hyderabad. Air-India should operate direct flights to these cities.
An independent body ought to be set up for the purpose of overseeing the affairs of Air-India. Maybe then, its management will begin to listen to the grievances and needs of ordinary Indians.
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