Delay in handing over land hits Vellore airport work

The runway apron nearly extends to the airport’s perimeter along the Asanambut Main Road, which branches off the Chennai-Bengaluru National Highway. Unless a portion of the road is blocked and handed over to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) by the State Highways Department, the process of coating the runway with bitumen cannot be completed, sources said.

A meeting of officials from various departments, chaired by the Highways Secretary, was held in Chennai a week ago to review the work progress. When contacted, Vellore Collector S A Raman said, “The Highways Secretary, who inspected the site a week ago, discussed the issue of handing over the road to the AAI.”

At present there are two roads – one near Poigai and another near the government ITI near Abdullapuram - leading to Asanambut from either side of the airport.

Officials felt that closing the present road immediately could lead to locals creating problems. “Hence, we plan to build another road along the airport perimeter for about 1.5 km before blocking the Asanambut Main Road,” Raman said.

“The district administration has written four letters to the Highways Department in this regard,” officials said, adding that once work on the perimeter road was over the main road would be blocked and handed over to the AAI.

Simultaneously, a ‘no trespassers’ board has been put up near the airport gate, while a mobile tower, which was dispatched from New Delhi, has been set up.