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Monday Musings: Pune’s airport plans continue to buffer in the wind
The Airport Authority of India announced that Pune airport will remain out of operation for civilian flights for 14 days, starting October 16, many were shocked. This was a second shut down within a span of 13 years
Last week, when the Airport Authority of India announced that Pune airport will remain out of operation for civilian flights for 14 days, starting October 16, many were shocked. This was a second shut down within a span of 13 years. The announcement coincided with the inauguration of another airport at Sindhudurg.
Operationalisation of the airport at Chipi in Sindhudurg has opened the horizon of additional connectivity of costal Maharashtra with other cities, directly connected with bigger places like Pune.
So while the people of Konkan are happy that their region has finally been given air connectivity, flyers in Pune are angry.
First, the announcement was made at a very short notice when many had planned to fly as the festive season has begun. The sudden cancellation of trips on a planned day for a reason that should have been announced much earlier was a grumble worth making.
Second, for a city not having a dedicated civilian airport is beyond comprehension.
The existing airport at Lohegaon is owned by the Indian Air Force (IAF). As stated by IAF, shutting down the airstrip was “inescapable”, as the condition of the runway was rapidly deteriorating and needed re-carpeting.
What has disappointed citizens for years is no dedicated civilian airport for the city with a population over five millions and a large presence of industries.
The proposed international airport for the city is a saga that may soon be folklore, which one generation can pass on to another.
Three years ago, that story looked real when government had finalised not just land in Purandar, but issued a notification for land acquisition.
The resistance of farmers led by local MLA Sanjay Jagtap forced the rulers to look for alternate land in the same tehsil.
This is now the fourth site the government is exploring for the project, which many now believe, may not be a reality in their lifetime.
The joke now is – for the generation which first heard of the proposed international airport in Pune two decades ago, it will always remain ‘proposed’.
Initially, it was in the Chakan industrial belt that the government had zeroed-in on land to develop the airport. Opposition of local farmers and entry of politicians, forced the state conduct a feasibility survey at two other sites, including the Khed Special Economic Zone.
However, this option also failed to take off, because 74 per cent of this land is under the ownership of the Kalyani Group, which refused to give it up. Fed up of hurdles, the then Devendra Fadnavis government shifted the site to Purandar and obtained clearance from key authorities like Defence, Civil Aviation and Environment. When the project looked to take off, a bunch of farmers protested, putting the proposal in cold storage once again till the current Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) dispensation explored yet another site.
Now, doubts are being raised about the future of the project at Purandar as those ruling the state like Ajit Pawar are maintaining that the site has not been confirmed yet, a clear contradiction to his earlier statements made in February 2021, that the newly proposed site for the airport was near the original site and would fall under Purandar tehsil.
This isn’t the first or last woe for Pune. There are many more. .
