1. 'BIAL deviated from designs' DH News Service, Bangalore: <Minister for IT and BT, Katta Subramanya Naidu has charged Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) with deviating from the original blue print while executing the work on air terminus. "We wanted an airport of international standard while the constructed one is of substandard," he alleged while speaking to reporters here on Wednesday. Disclosing that the State government would "negotiate" with BIAL on setting right the lapses in the construction and modifying the MoU to provide for retaining HAL airport, the minister said central intervention would be sought if the BIAL refused to concede to the demands. "The government is firm on its stand on rectifying the lapses in construction. We would terminate the agreement with BIAL and entrust the work on expanding the airport to a different company if the latter fails to set-right the lapses," the minister affirmed.Opining that air traffic at BIA would reach the maximum in a period of less than an year, the minister felt HAL airport needs to be revived to cater to domestic traffic. Road access and parking space can be created at HAL airport by shifting the Institute of Aviation Medicine to some other location. "A functioning airport has been closed no where in the world to pave for the new one," he substantiated. House Committee He said CM B S Yeddyurappa and Assembly Speaker Jagadish Shettar will shortly set up a joint House committee to probe alleged lapses in the airport construction, as assured in the Assembly recently.> http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Aug72008/city2008080783223.asp Note that there would have been no prospect of BIA reaching maximum capacity within one year IF old HAL airport had been retained for scheduled traffic. So Mopa needs to be down-sized to avoid this problem. Its future growth based on a sound business model would have to be in tandem with Dabolim civil enclave.
2.Minister unhappy with airport Special Correspondent It's a poor cousin to most other similar projects: Katta Subramanya Naidu No seats provided for those waiting to receive passengers Quality of construction is poor, says Minister BANGALORE: Minister for Information Technology and Biotechnology Katta Subramanya Naidu, who is in-charge of Bangalore North, has expressed his displeasure over the amenities available at the Bengaluru International Airport and has decided to take up the matter with the Union Government. He told presspersons here on Wednesday that the international airport was not really "international" in comparison with the facilities available in the other international airports, including that of Hyderabad and New Delhi. "This international airport is a poor cousin to most others and does not have any world standard facility. It will bring down the image of Karnataka in the eyes of the people who arrive here from across the world." The airport civil structure was marked by shoddy construction and the State Government would focus on all these issues. The Minister said the airport had no seating arrangements for people waiting to receive the passengers and there was no seating arrangement even for the police and other staff. Employees on duty at the airport had to remain standing for hours on end. Even toilets for the common people were very few. "Much was expected from the new international airport and it is a let down for the people of the State. Successive governments had done their best to ensure that Bangalore had one of the finest international airports and what we now see is no where near expectations. The Karnataka Government will take up this matter seriously with the authorities concerned." The Minister said most other major metropolitan cities had more than one airport and in the context of the poor facilities at the Bengaluru International Airport and the distance between the airport and the city, it was time the HAL airport was reopened for passenger aircraft. "We will take up this issue with the Centre. The Karnataka Government is a partner in the international airport and consequently has a right to demand adequate facilities for passengers and others," he said. He said the Joint Legislature Committee would probe into all aspects of the international airport. The legislature committee had been constituted at the instance of a vociferous demand made by the former Minister D.K. Shivakumar on the floor of the Legislative Assembly during the recent budget session. The Government readily agreed to the Opposition demand for constituting a legislature committee and select members of the Legislative Council would be part of the committee.>> http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/07/stories/2008080758530300.htm Most of the problems alluded to above are probably due to a laissez faire attitude of the state government in the project planning and design. It is rather late in the day to go in for rework. A case of closing the stable door after the horses have bolted. GOG must not fall into this trap. It must get on the Mopa project learning curve without delay. Downsizing Mopa would have the great advantage of making the project "manageable" from this standpoint -- and "viable" from the standpoint of the developers (by avoidng overlap with and cannibalisation of Dabolim). Note that downsizing does not necessarily mean that the airport will go back to the Dark Ages in terms of design. A Mopa project with a 6600 foot runway (or even a 3300 foot one), instead of the11000 foot A380 style one presently planned, can conceivably be uptodate in terms of design features, technology, modularity etc etc. But the land required for a future A380 international airport would have to be marked out, fenced off and protected against baying real estate developers for the decades involved. That's all.
