Ghaziabad: Curbs, new checkpoint planned near Hindon airport to check traffic snarls

The civil airport currently has an estimated footfall of about 6,000 passengers per day, as the number of incoming and outgoing flights have increased to 50, said officials

The Ghaziabad police will be restricting the movement of unnecessary vehicles on the Delhi-Wazirabad Road to the Hindon civil airport road from August and have decided to add a check-point about 500 metres before the main entrance of the civil terminal premises, said officials.

The Ghaziabad police will soon come up with a checkpoint near the civil terminal to restrict passage of unauthorised vehicles. (Sakib Ali / Hindustan Times)

The civil airport at present has an estimated footfall of about 6,000 passengers per day, as the number of incoming and outgoing flights have increased to 50 while connecting to 25 different cities at present, said officials.

“Since the footfall has increased, there is also an increase in the volume of traffic on the road connecting the Delhi-Wazirabad Road to the civil terminal. It is further noticed that many other vehicles also come to the road during the evening to roam around. So, to enhance the security, we have decided to put a checkpoint. 18 of our personnel will be relieved from Kanwar Yatra duties and will join the existing strength of 12. Thereafter, the checkpoint will be initiated by the end of July or in the initial days of August,” said assistant commissioner of police (ACP), office in charge of the civil airport security, Suryabali Maurya.

The ACP said that any vehicle going towards the civil airport will be stopped at the checkpoint. Only the authorised vehicles, and also those coming for pickup or drop-off of passengers, will be allowed to pass through, said an official familiar with the matter.

“The movement of vehicles will also need to be restricted as the airport is poised for an expansion with footfall going higher, and about nine acres of land are also sought for expanding the premises. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) is expected to purchase land directly from farmers,” said ACP Maurya.

“The modalities for procuring the land will be decided at the higher level. At present, the footfall is about 6,000 passengers per day, with about 50 flights connecting to 25 cities. So, expansion is required in the near future once more flights get connected to Hindon. Presently, we are managing the footfall through the timing and the number of flights coming in and going out. The checkpoint, taken up by local authorities, will ensure added safety and decongestion,” said an AAI officer familiar with the development.

The civil airport at Hindon began operations in October 2019 and was developed under the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme. For its operations, the flights at the airport use the runway of the Indian Air Force’s Hindon airbase, while passengers board and deboard from the civil terminal located nearby.

The officials said that Hindon has connectivity to different cities, including Kolkata, Chennai, Goa, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Jammu, Varanasi, Patna, Ahmedabad, Indore, Adampur, Nanded, Kishangarh, Ludhiana, and Bathinda, among others.

The flights from the civil airport offer convenient travel options for travelers from Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, Delhi, and other parts of western Uttar Pradesh.