100 days, but not there yet

100 days, but not there yet


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Labour Minister B.N. Bachegowda on Tuesday visited the victims of the lift accident at Shrinidhi Factory, at Manipal Polyclinic Hospital on Dyavasandra-KR Pura Road.
A hundred days after Bengaluru International Airport opened, we have neither an iconic “world-class” airport nor do we have an airport that the city has been able to embrace as its own. What we have is a “functional” airport. But is that enough?

As one Bengaluru resident said, “If we wanted just a functional airport, we could have expanded HAL, instead of building a private greenfield airport, in some 50 kms out of the city.” And paying for it, every step of the way.

The primary concern of reaching the airport has still not been addressed. Projects worth thousands of crores of rupees have been announced to bring the Bengaluru International Airport closer to the city. All of them remain on paper.

The DC team of S. Raghotham, R. Jayaprakash and Amit S. Upadhye examine what BIA can do to make Bengalureans feel connected to their airport. Expressway to BIA Even after 10 years of conceptualising the dedicated expressway to the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA), the project hasn’t moved an inch! The access-controlled, 21.2-km expressway planned by the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) to provide easy connectivity from the Outer Ring Road, was announced in 1998, but till date nothing concrete has happened.

While the BMRDA engaged the Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL) to execute the project, allegations of the corporation being choosy while acquiring land for the project stalled the proceedings in early 2007.

It was then handed over to the State PWD. But again, the PWD proved incompetent to even survey and mark an acceptable alignment. Citizens protested violently against the proposed alignment. They alleged that it was changed five times just to suit the rich and the mighty.

With no solution in sight, the Karnataka government handed over the project to National Highways Authority of India and washed its hands off. Last heard, the project is to be ready only in the later half of 2010! Which means that Bellary Road (NH7) will be the only access road to the airport from Bengaluru for quite some time to come.

This road has already over one lakh vehicles plying on it on any given day. Air passengers have to move in the bumper-to-bumper traffic for another two years.

The NHAI will invite global tenders to construct the toll road on a buildoperate-transfer basis. “These processes take a minimum of four to five months. We hope the project will be completed in 20 months,” he said. High speed rail link to BIA in sight The Karnataka state Industrial Investment Development Corporation is giving finishing touches to the award of contract and documentation for the Rs. 3,716 crore project that will provide a high speed rail connectivity to the BIA, that will ferry air passengers from BRV Grounds to the airport at a top speed of 160 kms per hour.

A tripartite agreement is being entered into by BIAL, state government and the Centre for the project. “We have sought viability gap funding of about Rs 500 crore. BIAL will chip in with Rs 35 crore. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation will be the consultant for the project,” sources said.

“Work on the project will begin in March 2009 and will be operational by March 2012. The gestation period for a project of this size is high. It will take over one year to just conceptu- alise the project; thereafter over three years to execute the project. It’s a long, tedious process. First, we have to freeze the alignment, then issue land acqui- sition notification, call global tenders and then start the spade work. The project will take a minimum of three years,” the official said. The 33-km track will run on the median of the main road from Raj Bhavan till Hebbal and from there on will be on the eastern side of the highway. The authority is already in talks with BMRCL to integrate metro rail to the high-speed rail link.

The BMRCL is building a massive underground sta- tion at Minsk Square and an interchange here is on the cards. Improvement to existing road The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, mean while, is toiling to make the Raj Bhavan-Hebbal flyover signal-free. The magic box concept, which proved to be a quick fix solution, has been put to use at two junc tions — BDA and Cauvery theatre.

BBMP has also success fully widened the road between the High Grounds police station and the Windsor Manor Bridge.

But the major task is still at hand — to complete the service road and magic boxes at three other junc tions. The BBMP has revised the deadlines for these thrice in the last six months, and it continues to be behind its own re-re-rerevised deadlines.

‘Team up with HAL’ C ongratulations to the entire team at BIAL on 100 days of oper ations at the international airport. Hard work has also been put in by the two cargo terminal operators — Menzies Aviation-Bobba and Air India-Singapore Airport Terminal Services. Most of the initial teething troubles have been addressed and rectified and the engagement of the management teams with industry is very encouraging and will be reciprocated. There is no doubt that the new airport was desperately required, and it is a welcome addition to Bengaluru’s infrastructure.

In the time that BIAL was being constructed, from 2005 to 2008, air traffic in the city grew by 255 per cent. No infrastructure project anywhere in the world can plan, let alone cater to such explosive growth. Despite the slowdown in domestic air travel, international travel is on the upswing with airlines making a beeline to Bengaluru.

In my opinion, it will behove BIAL management to consider extending its partnership with AAI and jointly run the terminal at HAL airport. The existing infrastructure is ready to be put to use, without any wait, and provides a means to bringing back to the skies, passengers lost to trains and buses.

— Devesh R. Agarwal Chairman, Infrastructure Committee, BCIC report card ? Most passengers made to wait in the bus on the runway after landing ? Baggage claim takes at least half an hour ? Preferential treatment given to some airlines ? Entry fee or Parking fee – what is it? Even though driver drops you off and you don’t even park, you are charged Rs 40. In addition, it’s Rs 50 if the car is parked ? Not disabled friendly ? Over 1,000 airline staff, and only six toilets ? No changing rooms for staff ? Airline coaches not allowed to come into airport, employees walk one kilometer ? Staff made to pay Rs 60 for a cup of coffee and Rs 120 for two slices of bread ? Running close to peak capacity of 30 flights per hour ? Duty free poorly stocked ? Bengalureans find in uncomfortable to drink water from fountain taps at BIA