The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Tiruchi chapter, has made a strong pitch for the expansion of Tiruchi airport to enable the operation of wide bodied aircraft.
It was one among five major thrust areas outlined in the District Development Plan-2015 released by the CII at a function organised in association with the Young Indians here on Saturday.
Promotion of district as a tourism centre, establishment of engineering and fabrication industrial park, improving road and rail infrastructure were among the other thrust areas identified. Stating that Tiruchi airport stood next only to Chennai in terms of handling international passenger traffic, the CII said that the runway should be expanded to 12,500 ft to enable operation of wide bodied aircraft. Provision should be made to handle 1075 passengers’ capacity during peak hours.
Similarly, Tiruchi should be included in Bilateral Air Traffic Agreement so as to connect with Muscat, Sharjah, Kuwait, Doha, Riyadh and other foreign destinations, it said.
On promotion of the district as a tourism hub, the development plan said Tiruchi had the potential to be promoted as a heritage hotspot. Srirangam and Rock Fort temples must be declared as prominent heritage centres. Laser and sound shows could be organised in Srirangam or Teppakulam, besides organising heritage walk along the town hall.
Reacting to the demands, P. Kumar, Member of Parliament, Tiruchi, said he would continue to press for the airport expansion. He had stressed the need for direct flight services to Bangalore and Mumbai from Tiruchi. Similarly, he would reiterate the demand for operating one more train to Bangalore from Tiruchi. A coordination meeting between officials of State and railway authorities would be held on Tuesday to discuss the transfer of railway land required for the over-bridge coming up near the Tiruchi Railway Junction, he said.
S. Sampath, vice president, CII, Tiruchi, Amuthavalli, Executive Engineer, Tiruchi Corporation, took part.
