Puducherry airport expansion: AAI completes Obstacle Limitation Surface survey
As a preliminary step towards expansion of the Puducherry airport, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has completed the Obstacle Limitation Surface (OLS) survey to identify potential obstacles along the airspace of Puducherry airport before starting construction of a new runway.
After aborting the plan to extend the existing runway, the AAI in consultation with the territorial administration had agreed on a new orientation for the runway that would entail discarding the existing runway of 1,502 metres and constructing a new flight strip of 2,300 metres for operation of Airbus 320 type aircraft from Puducherry.
A three-member team from the Central headquarters of the AAI in New Delhi was in Puducherry for a week from May 6 to conduct the OLS survey using hi-tech equipment including DGPS (Differential Global Positioning System), a specialised piece of gadget involved in satellite-assisted mapping of land.
'The team was in Puducherry from May 6 to 13 and they were involved in detailed mapping of the airspace. The preliminary assessment is that the approach ways and sideways of the proposed runway are free of obstacles, which includes mobile towers, high tension electric lines and high rise buildings. Now, the team will prepare a OLS chart and submit the plan to Planning and Airport Operation directorates of AAI for approval,' a source in AAI told The Hindu.
The proposed runway would extend to a point near the toll gate near Moratandi on the Tindivanam-Puducherry highway. The new orientation, which is a 20-degree deviation with respect to the existing runway, to materialise would need 402 acres of land with majority of the land parcel required for expansion lying on the Tamil Nadu side. For the construction of new runway having 2,300 metre in length and 45 metre width, the AAI would need 217 acres in Tamil Nadu area and 185 acres in Puducherry side, said an official.
'Land acquisition will be the biggest challenge as we will need around ₹ 1,500 crore to bear the acquisition cost in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. We have approached the Centre for the financing part and also initiated talks with Tamil Nadu at administrative level land acquisition part. While residential areas are less in places where land acquisition was necessary, government assets would need rehabilitation. Shifting of certain civic facilities will also be a huge challenge. We are still in a very preliminary stage as far land acquisition part of airport expansion project was concerned,' the official said.
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