Runway extension proposal takes off after Jayant Sinha's visit

PUNE: The state has decided to pursue the

issue of extension

of

Pune airport's

runway on a

war footing.

Minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha met airport officials here on Monday and discussed the issue of runway's extension. Pune MP Anil Shirole, who also heads the Pune airport advisory committee, told TOI that the issue had been discussed with the minister and things in this connection will start rolling very soon.

"There has been a longstanding plan for extension of the runway. We have written a letter to the minister about it recently. The extension of the runway will allow big and wide-bodied aircrafts to land and take off from Pune airport. The same was discussed with the minister and we have decided to take up the issue and pursue it on a war footing," Shirole said.

Another airport official said there were several aspects in connection with the extension of runway.

"There are issues when it comes to finances, shifting of the boundary wall and land acquisition too. At this moment it will be difficult to provide details but then it has been said during the meeting that the issue needs to be taken up seriously. It must be remembered that Pune is a defence airport and the ATC and the runway is managed by the Indian Air Force. So, the defence too comes in the picture," the official said.

The issue has been lingering since 2011. Talks had started on land acquisition but then things got stuck due to litigation.

With attempts to contact Pune collector Saurabh Rao proving futile, administration sources were not clear about the status of the issue.

"It has to be looked into, but I don't think that the matter has been sorted out until now. According to my knowledge, the issue is expected to be sorted out when the parties appear before the collector," Rajendra Muthe, the resident deputy collector told TOI.

Queries on the same were sent to the ministry of defence early May but no answers have come from them until now.

"The airport is expanding and constantly growing in terms of passengers and increase in the number of flights to domestic and international destinations. The work on the new terminal building will start soon and new international flights would commence soon. One will also see foreign airlines having wide bodied aircrafts taking off from the airport.

At present only

Lufthansa operates

flights from the airport. In such a scenario, the extension of the runway is important,' another official pointed out.

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