Daijiworld News Network - Bangalore
Report and pics by Jessie Rodrigues
Bangalore, Jun 29: The work on the new international airport began in July 2005. The tentative date of completion is January 2008. But, as they rightly put it, 'all dates are slippery when wet'.
Sometime in 1998, the government selected Devanahalli for Bangalore International Airport and the soon after the price of land in the surrounding areas of Devanahalli has just shot up. Farmers became rich overnight. But then came the bad news, the government changed its and dropped the idea.
Finally, Devanahalli is back again on the map, and the dream is coming true, almost. About 70% work on the Bangalore international airport will be completed by the year-end with evacuation work already starting on the portions that are to be expanded.
The airport will cover 4,050 acres in Devanahalli, 34 kilometres from Vidhana Soudha, Bangalore.
The promoters are Siemens-Zurich Airport-L&T consortium, Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Karnataka State Investment and Industrial Development Corporation (KSIIDC).
The cost of the project is approximately Rs 1,334 crore ($288 million) with passenger capacity of 4.5 million per year with additional job creation of 1,000 per million passengers. It will have a cargo capacity of 140,000 tonnes per year. The first phase is likely to be completed by June 2007.
Other features will be – Ground floor – Domestic arrival, baggage handling and claim.
First floor – Domestic and International departure
Second floor – International arrival with swing gate walk.
To make the commute smooth, NH 6 and NH 7 (Bangalore-Hyderabad) are being converted into a six-lane highways. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has acquired the required land.
Additional access roads which will run into Bellary Road are being planned. The existing roads through Hoskote and Hebbal will be upgraded to a four-lane expressway which will meet the airport road.
The Hebbal flyover is designed like a trumpet for six-way traffic, the first of its kind used in India.