MCC delays funds for laying of road near Vellore airport

Official sources revealed that around Rs 1.30 crore for laying the road would be sanctioned as soon as the model code of conduct was withdrawn after the declaration of Lok Sabha election results on May 23.

The funds would be handed over after May 23 and the work would be taken up on a war footing, sources said.

The delay in the sanctioning of the funds has resulted in the contractor slowing down the works in order to ensure that workers do not desert the project if stopped suddenly. Once the works were completed, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) would provide the necessary clearance for the airport to become operational, sources said.

Once the 1.5-km road around the airport is laid, the Asanambut road from the Vellore-Bengaluru national highway, which passes between the airport runway and the airport’s civil structure, would be closed. The Asanambut road would then be handed over to the contractor for the completion of the entire project.

The only relief for the contractor is that the trouble anticipated from residential houses, which initially opposed the airport project out of fear of their homes being affected, did not materialise. “However, we do not know how locals will react when the Asanambut road is closed as it is a prime route for them to reach the Asanambut town,” a source said.

While 90 per cent of the runway work for the airport was already over, work on the civil structures, which are to house the airport terminal, air traffic control (ATC) rooms, security bay, food court and passenger lounge, would be completed in another two months.