Green committee gives nod for Chennai Airport modernisation
Chennai, June 14: The Rs 2,476 crore Chennai Airport modernisation project phase II of Airports Authority of India (AAI) has got the Expert Appraisal Committee's (EAC) nod, subject to taking flood control measures and others, as per the minutes of the meeting held on May 30.
The EAC comes under the Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry.
According to EAC, the phase II modernisation of Chennai Airport consists of demolition and reconstruction of old domestic and international terminals; reconstruction of airside corridor for seamless integration; and interfacing provision in the new terminal for future connection of tunnel from satellite terminal.
It also includes augmentation of contact bays; development of multi-level car park; development of integrated common user cargo complex, after demolishing the old unused terminal at Meenambakkam here; and development of contact bays for category E cargo freighters.
The EAC has stipulated that AAI shall implement flood control measures recommended by IIT-Madras like: strengthening the airport compound wall to withstand static and dynamic pressure of the water encountered during floods; resizing and rerouting the internal storm water drains to prevent or minimise surcharging; resizing and rerouting the external storm water drains from Pallavaram and Pammal area into Adyar river externally to minimise the flooding inside the airport area and simultaneously improving the storm drainage infrastructure outside the airport; Adyar river passing through the airport shall be protected without causing any disturbance to the flow.
During the Chennai floods in 2015, the airport was flooded and was shut down for some days till water logging was cleared.
As to the benefits when the project is completed, the airport's total passenger handling capacity would go up to 16 million passengers per annum (MPPA) (domestic 10 MPPA and international 6 MPPA).
A sum of Rs 49.52 crore is planned to be invested on environment protection like development of green belt and others.
The modernisation project is estimated to be completed in 42 months.
Total water required after modernization of the terminal and other buildings would be around 4.1 million litres per day (MLD). The required water shall be sourced from municipal supply, treated water and recycled water and existing tube wells within the airport.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
SC refuses to entertain plea against deletion of names from WB voter list, terms it ‘premature’
_vb_77.jpeg)
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a plea by a group of 13 people seeking its intervention in the deletion of their names from the voter list during the Special Institutional Revision (SIR) in West Bengal, where polling for the first phase of the assembly election will be held on April 23.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi termed the petition "premature", directing the aggrieved parties to approach the established appellate tribunals instead.
"Since the petitioners (Quaraisha Yeasmin and others) have already approached the appellate tribunals… in our considered view, the apprehensions expressed in the petition are premature. If the plea is allowed, then necessary consequences will follow,” the bench said in its order, adding that it has not expressed any views on the merits of the plea.
The plea alleged that the Election Commission was summarily deleting names without following due process, and that appeals against these deletions were not being heard in a timely manner.
The Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court has set up as many as 19 tribunals headed by former HC chief justices and judges to decide appeals against deletions of names of persons from the voters’ lists.
Senior advocate D S Naidu, appearing for the poll panel, informed the court that there are approximately 30 to 34 lakh appeals currently pending. "Every tribunal now has over one lakh appeals to handle," the bench said.
The petitioners’ counsel argued that the EC had failed to place necessary orders before the relevant judicial authorities and that the "freezing date" for the electoral rolls should be extended.
"If I am not allowed to argue, then what is the use? Will these appeals be decided within a timeframe or just kept extending?" the counsel asked.
Justice Bagchi, during the hearing, referred to the sanctity of the electoral process and said the right to vote is not merely a constitutional formality but a "sentimental" pillar of democracy.
"The right to vote in a country you were born in is not just constitutional, but sentimental. It is about being part of a democracy and helping elect a government," he said.
He, however, said that the tribunals, manned by former judges, cannot be overburdened by fixing the timelines for adjudications.
"It is not the end justifying the means, but the means justifying the end," Justice Bagchi said.
"We need to protect due process rights. The voter should not be sandwiched between two constitutional authorities," he said, adding that it would not interdict the election process at this stage.
Justice Bagchi noted that the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice had already formulated the manner and mode for appeals, which began on Monday.
"Unless and until an enormous number of voters are excluded or it materially affects the election... the election cannot be cancelled," the bench said, adding that judicial intervention is intended to "promote elections, not interdict them."
The CJI emphasised that the petitioners must exhaust their remedies before the appellate tribunals.
Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, and votes will be counted on May 4.
_vb_67.jpeg)
_vb_65.jpeg)
_vb_52.jpeg)