The Hindu : Bihar agrees to give land for airport extension

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Saturday, Sep 07, 2002

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Bihar agrees to give land for airport extension

Patna Sept. 6. Faced with the Centre's threat to close down the Jaiprakash Narain Airport here for safety reasons, the Bihar Government has agreed to provide additional land for its extension and for partial pruning of trees in an adjacent biological park on condition that the airport would finally be shifted to Bhitha, 30 km. from here.

The decision was taken at a meeting at the Chief Minister, Rabri Devi's residence at the behest of the RJD leader, Laloo Prasad Yadav, on Thursday. The Minister for Forest and Environment, Jagdanand Singh, who said yesterday that 2,500 trees at the Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park could not be pruned as it was in the protected area, was also present.

The District Magistrate, Patna, Dipak Prasad, said the Government was ready to provide the necessary land. The meeting also decided to allot 0.2 acres of land adjacent to the 4.02 acre plot at Dhobi Ghat which had already been allotted to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on the eastern flank of the airport, he said. Efforts will be made to acquire a portion of land owned by the Speedcraft factory on the western flank.

While the AAI had requested the State Government to provide 5.02 acres of land, the Government had allotted only 4.02 acres at the cost of Rs. 4.32 crores, official sources said.

The Civil Aviation Minister, Shahnawaz Hussain, had said on Wednesday that besides the short runway, the 2,500 trees in the park posed a safety hazard for landing and take-off.

ICPA threatens to stop operations

Meanwhile, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) in Mumbai today threatened to stop operations to Patna in the near future. Indian Airlines pilots belonging to the ICPA have undertaken a signature campaign to stop flights to Patna ``due to unsafe operational conditions and warned that in the near future it would be forced to stop operations''.

Though the runway was 6,900 feet long, the effective length available was only 5,500 feet owing to the tall trees on one side and high tension electric wires on the other, resulting in the threshold (landing spot) being displaced, the ICPA said in a statement.

Pointing out the difficulty during landing, the ICPA said with a full load of 145 passengers in an A320, pilots have been left with no margin making it necessary for them to ``duck under'' (a landing technique used) to do a spot landing.

PTI

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Bihar agrees to give land for airport extension