Bamrauli airport to get major facelift
A team of Airport Authority of India (AAI) is likely to visit the city next week to finalise the project for construction of a new terminal and upgradation of the existing facilities at the Bamrauli airport. After completion of the project, it would be possible to operate big aircraft and many more flights from the airport. An AAI team led by its Chairman V P Agarwal and Executive Director Kalpana Sethi held talks with Sunita Singh, state's Civil Aviation Secretary and Secretary to the Chief Minister, in Lucknow on Wednesday to finalise the project. Following consultations, the AAI team would be visiting Allahabad next week to give final touches to the project. District authorities said with the proposed extension (in terms of both length and width) and improvement of the airstrip at Bamrauli, big aircrafts would be able to land and take off conveniently, putting the city on the civil aviation map of India. Allahabad DM Raj Shekhar told TOI: "Besides upgradation of the runway, the Bamrauli airport would also have night landing facility for big aircrafts. Testing for night landing is in pipeline and the district authorities are coordinating with AAI and Air Force authorities in this connection." The DM maintained that land for constructing the new airport terminal has been identified at Katuhala Gauspur and Chandrabhanpur villages under Sadar tehsil. Once the district authorities get the nod from AAI, the process for acquiring 30.391 hectares of land would be launched. In view of the project, the district authorities have identified three road alignment routes as per AAI norms. One of these routes would be finalised after due consideration, said district authorities. Survey of the three routes has already been carried out. The first road alignment -- from the Allahabad High Court to the proposed new terminal in Raheemabad (NTML) -- passes through High Court-Dhoomanganj-Jhalwa-Raheemabad areas. This route is 9.5-km-long and it would take about 20 minutes from the High Court to reach NTML.