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The indefinite strike by airport employees against closure of Bangalore and Hyderabad airports is called off today after a two day agitation.

Government ensured the employees that there will be no risk to their future as the old airports in Hyderabad and Bangalore would be used for general aviation.

“The (existing) airports are not being closed down. They will be used for general aviation (apart from defence purposes and national emergencies),” Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said.

The civil aviation minister said new airports have to be constructed in national interest.

The two day strike resulted into piling of a lot of litter on Thursday in many places on the airport, although flights remain normal across the country.

The strike didn’t effected the schedules for flight but the used coffee and tea cups, empty water bottles and waste paper could be seen littered at the Delhi airport and passengers complained of dirty toilets.

“Keeping in mind the interests of all sections, we will try to find a way out of the legal problems in the future, speak to the operators (of the greenfield airports), he said.

Waste material remained piled at the international arrival terminal and domestic arrival and departure terminals with the maintenance workers participating in the agitation.

But there was no such problem in the international departure terminal in any airport. AAI Director Narendra Kaushal told that ‘everything is fine and normal.’

The minister said the employees were apprehensive that with the privatisation of airports, the financial viability of the AAI would be jeopardised.

“I assured them that interests of AAI and its employees will not be affected. In fact, we will try to make AAI more profitable,” he said.

Tags: Agitation, Airport, Employee

The proposed Mumbai second International Airport plan is seems to be in trouble. This new Airport is proposed as a solution to air traffic congestion at Mumbai’s only airport. Government agency CIDCO (City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra) has planned the new airport on 1.140 hectares of land near Panvel in Raigad district, 35 Kms from Mumbai. But the one-fourth of this area falls under CRZ I (ecologically very sensitive) area. Hence the environment Ministry objected the plan.

Currently the Mumbai airport can handle only 40 million passengers and studies showed that High rush at the Mumbai airport is expected to come this year. An estimate shows around 25 million passengers a year by 2008, which can go up to 91 million within next 20-22 years. That’s the reason behind the plan for a second international airport at Panvel. The Centre has already granted conditional approval to the project.

The central environment ministry rejected the plan to amend the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification to allow construction of the airport on a mangrove zone. CIDCO is suggested by them to look for an alternative site. A letter to this effect was already sent last Friday to CIDCO by Dr A Senthil Vel, Additional Director in the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

CIDCO managing director GS Gill said, “We have already asked them to reconsider. It is an important project for Mumbai and they should be making an exception,” he told on Thursday to the sources. “Since the national authority on Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) has proposed amendment, it should be accepted by the ministry”.

CIDCO had approached the National Coastal Zone Management Authority (which has powers to allow construction in CRZ) and the latter recommended amendment in the CRZ notification for the airport construction. But the ministry has now turned down the proposal.

The airport is proposed to be developed through public-private participation in which CIDCO and the Airports Authority of India will hold 26 per cent equity. The rest will be held by a private developer, to be chosen through public bidding.

Tags: Airport, Mumbai