Move to shift colony to speed up Trichy runway expansion

TRICHY: The aerodrome committee which met at the

Trichy

international airport on Wednesday decided to shift a colony which has been an obstacle to the much delayed runway expansion at the earliest. Sources said the process of expanding the existing runway length from 8,000 feet to to 12,000 feet has been dragging for more than a decade.

A habitation in

Ambedkar Nagar

was considered a hindrance to the expansion plans. Airport and police officials who attended the meeting proposed to move the people to the slum clearance board. The authorities also discussed another obstruction - the Trichy-Ramanathapuram national highway 210 passing beside the runway. The prospects of building an underpass or reducing the height of the existing road were discussed.

City commissioner of police G Karthikeyan, who is also chairman of the aerodrome committee, presided over the meeting while airport director

S Dharmaraj

and senior officials of various departments including Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) participated. Various issues concerning airport safety were also discussed. Airport authorities informed police officials that according to the decision taken at the previous meetings, more than 20

CCTV

cameras have been installed at every vantage point in and around the entry and exit gate of the airport. This would be very helpful to monitor gold smuggling and other illegal activities outside the airport.

This apart, to strengthen security around the airport, police commissioner G Karthikeyan proposed to launch two-wheeler and four-wheeler police patrol around the airport. He insisted on creating police booths at the entry and exit points to have a close check on people.