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Polls hit work on Vellore airport runway
The work on Rs 7.5 crore terminal building for the Vellore airport has gathered pace with the superstructure being completed recently. However, work on paving the runway is stuck, as the Vellore district administration has not handed over the Asanambut Road that cuts in between both facilities, sources said.
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Vellore
More than a month ago, Vellore Collector SA Raman had told DT Next that the Asanambut Road would be closed after a 1.5 km road was laid along the periphery of the airport to enable vehicles from Chennai – Bengaluru National Highway to reach the Asanambut Road beyond the airport.
The Erode-based contractor has nearly completed the runway with only the process of coating it with bitumen pending. “This could be completed within a month,” said sources, and added that the road not being handed over has slowed down the work.
If the runway is completed immediately, locals might use it as there is no compound or fencing due to the work undertaken on the terminal building on the other side of the Asanambut Road, said sources.
“There is ban on the expansion work undertaken in the Vellore, Tiruchy and Madurai airports. We had earlier planned to ensure that the Vellore airport becomes operational by June – July,” senior officials said. However, this plan was upset by the announcement of general elections.
Sources in the Vellore Collector’s office accepted that the delay in handing over the Asanambut Road to the Airports Authority of India (AAI). They said that all the officials were involved in the election work, due to which the construction of the peripheral road could not be completed on time.
Sources also revealed that the terminal building housing passenger amenities, security area, and toilets would be completed in two to three months.
The facility is small, as only 20 seater aircraft were expected to use the airport said officials, pointing out that the runway was only 850 metres.
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