Delay in shifting utilities hits airport expansion work
HUBLI: The process of upgrading the Hubli airport to international standard is going on at snail's pace due to alleged indifferent attitude of various government agencies to removing hurdles related to the boundary wall work and runway expansion.
Poor connectivity was blamed for industrial backwardness in the city. In order to address it, the state government had planned to upgrade Hubli airport to international standard. For this, the Jagadish Shettar government entered into an MOU with the Airports Authority of India to develop the airport at a cost of Rs 150 crore in the first phase. As per the agreement, all hurdles for the expansion work should have been cleared by the departments concerned including Hescom, HDMC, the water board and BSNL.
But all the civic agencies failed in this regard. The agencies by now should have shifted about 150 electrical poles and lines, water and sewage pipelines that pass through the airport area, telephone lines and poles, which are on the land acquired for airport expansion.
These departments are said to have not yet prepared the project report to shift the respective poles and lines, and it has affected the airport development work, said an Hubli airport official.
According to sources, the state infrastructure development department had promised to release Rs 8 crore to shift all utilities at the time of signing of MoU but the district administration is said to have not yet received this fund. This is the main reason for delay in preparing the project report to shift the public utilities, said sources.
When contacted, deputy commissioner Sameer Shulka said that he had not yet received any order or document related to release of Rs 8 crore from IDD to remove public utilities. I will check it out,'' he said.
KM Basavaraju, director, Hubli airport, said that there was no coordination between the state departments. Though we have started work on the construction of the boundary wall up to 13 km from Hubli airport covering Gokul and Tarihal area, the work is getting delayed following non-shifting of public utilities by these departments,'' he said.
We plan to call a tender to allot the work of runway expansion in August and we expect all public utilities which come in the way to be cleared,'' he said.
Prahlad Joshi, MP and chairman, airport advisory committee, said that both the airports authority and the state government departments should work in tandem to speed up the airport expansion work. I had a meeting with all officers and asked them to remove all hurdles at the earliest.''
We have decided to hold a meeting of the airport advisory committee at least once a month at the deputy commissioner's office from next month to expedite the work of airport expansion,'' he said.
Flight path
* Plan to extend runway from existing 1,674 mtrs to 2,600 mtrs
* To construct terminal building at a cost of Rs 150 crore in first phase
source:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/