Juhu airport’s 2nd runway to be closed
The proposal to shut down the secondary runway of the Juhu airport was finally approved by the authorities on Friday in a high-level meeting of officials at Mantralaya.
Incidentally, there have been allegations that certain officials of the AAI have been pushing for the plan in order to benefit private builders, who can exploit its real estate potential. Among other things, the Juhu airport’s proposed redevelopment was also officially announced.
The meeting took place between officials of the civil aviation ministry, Airports Authority of India (AAI), Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) and the state government. Civil aviation secretary K.N. Srivastava said, “The secondary runway of the Juhu airport will be shut down and operations will be conducted on the main runway. The main runway will then be re-aligned with the main runway of the Mumbai airport in order to avoid overlapping flight paths. Single runway operation is a new worldwide trend.” The proposal to extend Juhu’s main runway into the sea using stilts was also approved.
According to the plan, by extending the runway by 750 to 800 metres into the sea, smaller ATR and business jet operations at Mumbai can be shifted to Juhu, to de-congest the latter. However, the runway extension will require crossing over Juhu Tara Road, which is being opposed by local residents and environment activists. “The work on the redevelopment project can begin in 16 months after securing all clearances. Around 20 months will be required to finish the work after commencement of construction. Shifting of smaller aircraft operations will increase capacity at the Mumbai airport by 15 per cent. This translates into handling five million more passengers,” added Mr Srivastava. Interestingly, a recent letter from joint GM (ATC) K.L. Narsimhan of Juhu airport warns that the proposal would work against decongestion.
Also, the apprehension regarding the proposed extended runway coming in the way of the proposed Bandra-Versova Sealink was negated.
A safe distance of 500 metres between the edges of the runway and the sealink has been calculated. The relocation and rehabilitation of the 5,000 hutments surrounding the Juhu airport was also discussed.
The airport’s redevelopment is projected to be completed in three-and-a-half years. The state government has decided to redevelop the hutments under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) schemes.
According to recent media reports, certain AAI officials, in collusion with private developers, were pushing for the secondary runway to be closed. The AAI’s appellate committee immediately accepted the proposal report in 2011, and later began issuing NOCs to construction projects around Juhu airport. A vigilance committee report, released last year, highlighted the fallacy after which the issue came to light.
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