Operations on the secondary runway of Chennai airport have interrupted ongoing Metro Rail construction in the area for a while now.
After the secondary runway was thrown open for flight operations, officials of Airports Authority of India (AAI) had sought to suspend Metro Rail work, citing ‘safety’ reasons, said officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL). The construction is disrupted for two hours on Tuesdays and Saturdays when the main runway is shut for maintenance and the secondary runway is used.
“They had asked to stop work only for those few hours, since we employ huge machines for construction near the secondary runway. We were advised to stop work on those two days. This is only a temporary arrangement till the construction is completed,” said an official from CMRL.
“But there should not be a problem when we begin train operations; it will continue unaffected irrespective of the operations on the secondary runway,” the official added.
AAI officials had earlier raised safety concerns over the Metro Rail line running close to the flight approach path of the secondary runway. While a ‘No Objection Certificate’ was issued to CMRL and a committee in the civil aviation department had given approval for this project, experts have warned of problems.
Aviation expert Mohan Ranganathan had recently written to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa about the major problems that would arise from the clearance given for the secondary runway. He noted there could be a disaster if an aircraft overran the runway and rammed into the 25,000V Metro Rail line cables.
The Metro Rail corridor from Little Mount to Airport runs partly underground and partly elevated. It goes 10 metres below the ground from Officers’ Training Academy to Meenambakkam, and then continues as an elevated corridor.
