At a high level meeting with Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh directed all the Ministries and Departments concerned to expedite the work on three major airport projects at Mumbai, Nagpur and Pune. “Some of these projects had been pending for a long time. The Navi Mumbai International Airport project had been pending for the three years, while the Nagpur and Pune projects for nearly 10 years,” Mr. Chavan said, during an interaction with the media organised by the Indian Women’s Press Corps.
The Prime Minister’s Office said the current Mumbai airport was expected to reach full capacity by 2015 and the Navi Mumbai International Airport would ensure unhindered air traffic growth.
The international airport for Pune at Khed was necessitated because the present Pune airport belongs to Air Force and the civilian airport operates through a civil enclave and would not be able to operate after two years.
As for the expansion of Nagpur airport , it was decided that the Centre wouldexchange the necessary land with the State government so that the work on this can begin immediately.
In case of the Mumbai Elevated Rail Corridor Project — a Rs.20,000-crore project to build additional suburban traffic capacity over 60 km — it was agreed that a fresh traffic study would be conducted taking into account the traffic capacity being created by the new Mumbai Metro line which is partially on the same alignment. The modalities on moving ahead with the project would be finalised thereafter.
Project shelved?
K. Balchand adds:
The agreement on a fresh traffic study for the Mumbai Elevated Rail Corridor Project seems to suggest that the ambitious project has been shelved in view of the coming general elections in 2014.
The decision comes after eight companies had put in their bids for the project, which were to be taken into consideration on November 20, and took senior railway officials here by surprise.
The PMO had set a deadline for the Maharashtra government to submit its State support agreement to the project involving shifting various utilities besides acquiring land for the elevated corridor. The Maharashtra government failed to do so, and Wednesday’s decision ensures that the problematic job is put off till after the elections.
