A top official from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security of India (BCAS) inspected the Mysuru airport at Mandakalli with regard to the expansion of the existing runway for facilitating the operation of bigger aircraft.
The Additional Commissioner (Security), BCAS, Jyothi Narayan, and four senior officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI), inspected the airport along with the local officials led by Deputy Commissioner C. Shikha.
The existing length of the runway is 1,744 metres and expansion was necessary for an additional 800 metres for operating larger planes.
Tunnel Proposed
To facilitate expansion of the runway, construction of a tunnel had been proposed to avoid realignment of the National Highway that passes along the airport.
“The tunnel can save construction of an additional 11 km highway. The facility saves time and cost as a lot of time is spent on acquisition issues. The highway will pass through the tunnel and the aircraft will move over the tunnel,” she explained.
She said the team was told that the tunnel technology for runaway is new in the Indian context, though it exists in many countries including Singapore, Amsterdam and South American nations. “But the technology was feasible and implemented,” they said.
Security clearance
Ms. Shikha said the team had been convinced by our presentation. The proposal on building tunnel for airport expansion had been submitted long back and already a team had inspected the airport in the past.
The team which inspected the airport on Wednesday is actually a security clearance team to look into the security aspects of a tunnel, she said.
“We apprised the team that the tunnel will be bomb-proof and 24-hour surveillance will be in force besides CCTV vigil for tight security,” she replied. Police Commissioner B. Dayanand had accompanied the delegation.
