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Friday, May 16, 2008

Greenfield airport site feasible, says study

While the Airports Authority of India prepares to begin work on the modernisation and expansion of Chennai airport in the coming weeks, it has also taken the first steps towards starting work on its greenfield airport project in Sriperumbudur.

The AAI has conducted a techno-feasibility study, and an official told The Hindu that the site was feasible for the greenfield airport.

The proposal is currently with the International Civil Aviation Organisation awaiting approval. While the AAI initially planned to construct four runways on the site, it will now build two parallel runways. When completed, the project will take care of Chennai’s aviation requirements “for the next 50 years,” the official said.

The State government has identified 4,820.66 acres of land in Tirumangalam, Mambakkam, Irungulam, Vadamangalam, Padicherry, Sirukilai, Kilai and Sriperumbudur in Sriperumbudur taluk, and Tirupandiyur and Vayalur in Tiruvallur taluk for the project, and around 6,540 people and 1,078 homes will be dislocated by the development.

The lands marked out for the greenfield airport are close to the Chennai-Bangalore National Highway. A State government official said that developing connectivity to the proposed site will be strongly emphasised in the planning for the project as the government was keen on avoiding a repeat of the teething troubles faced in Bangalore and Hyderabad, where similar greenfield airports were set up on the outskirts of the two cities.

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