Flying into turbulence

Flying into turbulence

Tyagaraj Sharma
The Bangalore International Airport at Devanhalli, 40 km from the IT capital, opened recently. It is being acknowledged as a marvel of efficiency, set to compete with the best in the country.
In the normal course, this would have been an exciting event for Bangaloreans, who have been starved of an international airport. Unfortunately controversy is dogging this welcome development. Issues relating to the closure of the existing airport, poor road connectivity and user development charges by it, have created a mess.
Much of the blame has to be taken by the Centre, the state government and allied agencies, including the Airports Authority of India which signed an agreement with the Siemens-promoted Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL). Under the agreement no other facility can function within a radius of 150 km of the Devanhalli airport. Consequently, the existing HAL airport has had to close down. This has provoked an outcry, with people arguing that an explosive growth in traffic, makes it necessary to keep the old facility open. Ms Kiran Majumdar Shaw, Biocon boss, Mr Mohandas Pai of Infosys and others argue that all over the world it is common for big cities to have two airports. Even the Centre has recognised the need for two airports in the metros.
The closure of the old airport could be construed as a case of overreaching the Karnataka High Court, on vacation when the new one opened, argues Mr Ravichandar of Bangalore City Connect Foundation. The court had advised the authorities to view the decision regarding closure of the old airport along with the possibility of renegotiating the contract. This was upheld by the Supreme Court, with the Centre submitting that it would renegotiate the contract, in line with the high court order.
Another reason for pleading for the continuation of the existing airport is the poor road connectivity to the new airport. Successive governments have failed to provide the much needed road and rail link to the new airport, travelling to which will take a minimum of three hours. This explains the chorus for the continuation of the existing airport. Flying short distances will now become a farcical exercise. A heartening development though is a shuttle service started by the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation. Air-conditioned buses will ferry passengers from 26 points on nine routes every 15 minutes with the minimum fare for the service being Rs 80 and the maximum Rs 200. A hundred other buses will ply during peak hours, with fares ranging from Rs 20 to Rs 90.
Mr Albert Brunner, CEO, BIAL, however, has rejected all arguments in favour of the old airport. He says the world over the practice of running two airports had proved counterproductive, other than in places like the US or the UK where traffic volumes justify it. He also points to the contract. The closure of the old airport is a fait accompli.
This is something state government officials also agree with. They say it will not be possible to re-negotiate.