BIAL work in progress

Work on international airport project takes off
Deccan Herald

The project implementing agencies are confident of meeting the deadline and say that the first flight will take off from this airport by April 2, 2008.

Forty-seven days into its being, the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) site at Devanahalli is a picture of pocketed, yet focused activity. The men and machines are in place, setting base for what would be the realisation of a long-due project.

There are around 600 labourers on the job, even as camps and start-up amenities for the engineers and other staff are getting ready. Three months down the line, the picture of this Rs 1,400-crore project would look really different, says Chief Projects Officer Mr Sivaramakrishnan S Iyer.

Work on the runway, planned on around 4,000 metres in the east-west direction, has already gained momentum and Mr Iyer is confident that the April 2, 2008 deadline would be met.

“There will be issues as we get deeper into the project, but we can take care of them. As builders, BIAL’s prime objectives are to be safety-conscious, time-conscious and of course, cost-conscious,” says Mr Iyer.

The terminal buildings, an apron area, taxiways, control towers and access roads are covered in the Phase I plan. Crushers, pre-casting yards and concrete plants are also operational. Water for use in the nearly 3,800-acre land is brought in by tankers from different areas.

“We have to also ensure that vegetation doesn’t grow again in areas marked for the runway. However, we would like to retain some greenery unless it becomes extremely necessary to uproot it,” says Mr Iyer.

BIAL’s brief also requires it to do phased landscaping of the airport. The company has slotted the project in broad phases of building, operation, commerce and beautification. However, Mr Iyer says there won’t be intermittent gaps between the phases. “The whole activity will be inter-linked. That is, operational testing-- like runway lighting, terminals or air-conditioning-- will be on even before the next phase starts,” he says.

The action is expected to get a thrust in the next couple of weeks, by when more staff would set base in offices and camps. Staff canteens and kitchens for labourers are also in place.

Apart from BIAL, Siemens and Larsen & Toubro, two companies of the three-group consortium, have set up offices in the site. Unique Zurich Airport is the third company of the consortium.

“At the peak time, we expect around 300 engineers, 700 lower level supervising officials and 3000 workers on the site,” says Mr Iyer.

The Chief Projects Officer says the USP of the project is that it would be a greenfield airport with a compact Public Private Participation (PPP). For a project which has seen recurring swings of fortune, the Build Operate Transfer (BOT) scheme may not be as simple as it sounds, but Mr Iyer sounds up to the task.

“As per the 30-month contract, we are expected to get the first flight out of here by April 2, 2008. We have a clear deadline and we plan according to that. It’s all very transparent,” he says.