Airport dream coming true bit by bit

DEVANAHALLI AIRPORT PROJECT
Airport dream coming true bit by bit
Men And Machines Work Overtime At The Site
The Times of India

Devanahalli: The roaring sound of excavators can be heard at a distance across the vast expanse of land where work on Bangalore International Airport commenced four days ago. On the sprawling 500 acres of land dotted with marshy shrubs which is earmarked to construct the runway, two machines are working overtime to clean the wild.

About 1 km from from the site is a quarry in Mylanahalli where two huge crushing plants are getting ready. Nearby, control rooms are being built to monitor the operations of the plant. Near the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) site office, pre-cast yards are being constructed to prepare moulds for the boundary wall. The moulds, which will cover the 24-km periphery of the airport boundary, will then be assembled. It will take at least one year to construct the compound for nearly 4,000 acres, site engineers said.

On July 2, as announced by the government, work on the airport commenced in full swing. On Tuesday, union civil aviation secretary Ajay Prasad, BIAL CEO Albert Brunner and infrastructure secretary Vinay Kumar visited the airport site to take stock of the work.

Speaking to The Times of India, Prasad said: “Work has gained momentum, officials are geared up with men and machinery to take up the project. This is my first visit to the site and I held a review meeting. I am happy to say that the target will be achieved and airport will be ready in another 33 months.’’

According to Kumar, BIAL is likely to commence work on the terminal building by September-end. By which time, civil works would be completely on the track. All hurdles to the Rs 1,411.8 crore-international airport project were cleared on June 23. The government has acquired 3,800 acres of land wherein a 4,000 metre-long runway, taxiways, an apron area with aircraft stands and a terminal building will come up.

Within the next 45 days, 500 acres of east to west runway area have to be cleared. “While the JCB machines will work round-the-clock, nearly 120 labourers have been hired. The wood will be in turn sold to the industries,’’ JCB contractor Krishnamurthy said.

Not now
While a large number of villages acquired by the BIAL wear a deserted look without the residents, a few are inhabited. Reason: They will shift only after their crop is harvested. “We have asked the villagers to vacate the place but have given them time as their crops will be harvested shortly. In any case we do not require their lands now’’ Kumar said.