Limited airspace concerns plague Bengaluru's second airport plan: Report
Bengaluru: As plans for the construction of Bengaluru's second airport progress, the state government faces significant concerns regarding the limited availability of airspace, according to a recent report by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
The report, cited by Deccan Herald on Tuesday, on the upcoming airport highlights that the “aircraft movement will be constrained due to restricted airspace” at all three sites proposed by the government.
These include two adjacent land parcels on Kanakapura Road near Harohalli, measuring 4,800 and 5,000 acres, and a 5,200-acre site on Kunigal Road near Nelamangala.
“Bengaluru has too many establishments that have already established their claim over the airspace in the city. About half of Bengaluru’s airspace is under the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), almost going up to Coimbatore. In the north, it all comes under the air force station at Yelahanka. Their airspace apparently extends up to Hassan. So now, we have to specifically earmark airspace for the second airport,” DH quoted a senior official from the industries ministry as saying.
This problem is not unique to the second airport project. Similar airspace concerns had arisen during the establishment of Kempegowda International Airport (KIA).
For the proposed Kanakapura sites, the instrument flight procedures (IFPs) will depend on IFPs at HAL airport and TAAL airport in Hosur. In contrast, the Nelamangala location would require coordination with IFPs at HAL, IAF-Yelahanka, and KIA.
“We will follow due process with the committee of the defence ministry to get airspace,” DH quoted Industries Minister M.B. Patil as saying.
While the locations near Kanakapura have hills on the eastern and western sides, the Nelamangala location features hills on the north-eastern and western sides. The AAI report also notes that all three proposed sites feature both hard and soft rocky terrain, which will present significant challenges during construction.
These obstacles must be “evaluated to determine whether they pose potential obstacles to safe air navigation. Any hill within the site boundary that is identified as an obstacle will require levelling,” added the report.
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CM launches poster campaign 'Justice for Karnataka'
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday released nine posters as part of a campaign: ‘Justice for Karnataka. Fair Share–Strong Federalism’ asking the Centre to heed state's demands.
These posters highlight key demands placed before the Finance Commission: Restoring Karnataka’s fair tax share; correcting unjust income, population and GSDP criteria; ensuring fair disaster and ecological support; strengthening decentralisation; providing dedicated infrastructure support for Bengaluru; supporting backward regions like Kalyana Karnataka; and upholding the constitutional spirit of cooperative federalism, Siddaramaiah said.
In a statement, Siddaramaiah said his government has placed its legitimate and constitutionally grounded demands before the 16th Finance Commission, seeking justice in tax devolution and fiscal federalism.
“We hope that the 16th Finance Commission reflects these concerns fairly in its recommendations, and that the Union Government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi implements them in letter and spirit, without subjecting Karnataka to petty politics or discrimination, as has unfortunately happened in the past,” the chief minister said.
Siddaramaiah underlined that Karnataka is among the country’s highest contributors to national revenues, yet its share in tax devolution was earlier reduced from 4.71 per cent to 3.64 per cent causing a loss of nearly Rs 80,000 crore.
"Flawed formulas that penalise development and population control, unrealistic GSDP calculations, inadequate disaster support, unchecked cesses and surcharges, denial of GST compensation, and non-release of recommended grants have collectively weakened the state’s finances," Siddaramaiah charged.
