Plan for ‘bomb-proof’ underpass near Mysuru airport runway

A soil-testing exercise along a stretch of National Highway 212, connecting Mysuru with Nanjangud near here, is under way to explore the feasibility of constructing a ‘bomb-proof’ underpass below the existing national highway and perpendicular to the Mysuru airport runway.

The testing, which has been entrusted to a private agency, follows a decision by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to have IIT-Delhi come up with the design, complete with security features, for an underpass or tunnel to facilitate an highway extension, without realigning the National Highway (NH). The airport is situated between the NH and a railway track.

Soil testing is an elaborate procedure where you have to dig deep into the soil to check the strata and its ability to withstand seismic shocks and other vibrations, said an AAI official familiar with the exercise. The exercise, which began earlier this month, is scheduled to be completed in one month’s time, while the design is to be submitted in three months.

However, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security will have to clear the design again before the work on the underpass is entrusted to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). “If approved, an underpass below the runway will be the first of its kind in India. But around the world, there are several airports with roads and highways that pass below the runway,” Mr. Singh added.

Though the existing NH comprises four lanes with a median, the proposed underpass is expected to have six lanes with a median. “The length of the underpass will be around 450 metres and width will be around 23 metres,” an AAI official said.

Provision will also be made for installing various technological gadgets near the entrance and exit, besides posting required personnel to conduct necessary checks on vehicles.

The existing runway stretching up to 1,740 m facilitates operating of only ATR aircraft.

The expansion of Mysuru airport to operate long-haul flights has been hanging fire for a long time in view of the hurdles to the extension of the runway.

Initially abandoned

After the proposal to realign the national highway was abandoned due to various reasons, including prohibitive costs, the BCAS was reluctant to the idea of a tunnel. But recently, the BCAS permitted the Ministry of Civil Aviation to explore the possibility of constructing a bomb-proof underpass or tunnel. The task of designing it was entrusted to IIT-Delhi, in consultation with the National Security Council, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd., and the Defence Research Development Organisation, Director of Mysuru airport Manoj Kumar Singh told The Hindu .