Chandigarh, December 19
A member of the Rajya Sabha from Haryana, Mr Tarlochan Singh, said the issue of the expansion of Chandigarh airport was raised today by him at a meeting of the Parliament Committee on Civil Aviation.
The Civil Aviation Minister, Mr Praful Patel, and the Congress MP, Mr Rahul Gandhi, were also present at the meeting, he said.
Mr Tarlochan Singh said that Mr Patel had assured him that work on the expansion of the airport to a full-fledged international airport would begin next year. He said that almost all MPs had complained with regard to traffic congestion at the international airport in Delhi.
To decongest Delhi international airport, the only way was to upgrade the airports in various northern states, he said. " I asked Mr Patel to make Chandigarh airport one of the best international
airports. This would help reduce air passenger traffic in Delhi by 40 per cent. And by providing the best facilities at Raja Sansi Airport in Amritsar, air passenger traffic could be further reduced in Delhi", he said. " Everybody at the meeting agreed with me", he asserted.
He said Mr Patel answered in the negative when asked whether the Civil Aviation Ministry had cleared the project with regard to the setting up an international airport at Halwara. " I do not know if this project has been cleared at some other level, but Mr Patel told me at today's meeting that no project to set up a civil airport at Halwara had been okayed", said Mr Tarlochan Singh. " To another query, Mr Patel said that a state government had no right to construct an international airport. I had drawn the attention of the Minister to an advertisement published in certain newspapers regarding the foundation laying ceremony of the civil airport at Halwara", said Mr Tarlochan Singh.
