The Chennai Metro Rail station coming up at the airport, the second in the country after the facility at the Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi, has been facing severe delays.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) was given the job of constructing the station. Though the structural work on the station was completed in August last year, AAI is still carrying out roof work and other mechanical, electrical and plumbing work. An official of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) said, “Once they are done, the station will be handed over to us and we will then carry out the interior work.”
The Metro Rail station at the airport is a five-level terminal spread over 17,300 sq.m.
There has also been a delay in the construction of the elevated stretch between the Officers’ Training Academy and Chennai airport after the contract of Lanco Infratech Limited worth Rs. 178 crore was suspended in August 2013 by CMRL due to tardy work. A lot of time passed before a new contract was awarded to ITD Cementation India Limited by the end of 2013.
CMRL had planned to start operations from Little Mount to the airport by mid-2015. But as the inauguration of the first stretch from Koyambedu to Alandur has been delayed, it is unlikely that this service will take off on time.
Published - February 12, 2015 07:58 am IST
