No CAT-III for Chandigarh airport; shorter route proposed

Chandigarh, May 26

Nearly seven years after a petition was filed in public interest claiming that the Chandigarh international airport had failed to take off to the desired heights even after spending Rs 1,400 crore, the UT Administration today told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that two of its proposals would bring the airport closer to the people by nearly 8 km.

The Bench hearing the matter was also told by the Union of India/India Air Force that the issue regarding the installation of instrument landing system “CAT-III B” at the airport had been “rested” and the issue stood closed.

What the UT told HC

• The UT told the HC that two of its proposals would bring the airport closer to people by nearly 8 km
• The Bench was told by the Union of India/IAF that the issue regarding the installation of instrument landing system “CAT-III B” at the airport stood closed

Appearing before the Bench of Chief Justice Ravi Shanker Jha and Justice Arun Palli during the hearing of the petition filed in public interest by the Mohali Industries Association, UT senior standing counsel Anil Mehta submitted that two “alternative shorter routes” had been proposed by the Administration for approaching the airport. As of now, city residents had to travel 11 km to reach the airport. One of the proposed routes to the airport would reduce the distance to just about 2.85 km. The other proposed route would mean travelling for just about 3.32 km.

Mehta also told that a joint meeting between the UT Administration, the Union Ministry of Defence, the airport authorities and the state of Punjab, among others, would now be held to finalise one of the two routes.

The Bench, during the course of the hearing, was also told that the requisite working permission for timely construction of the Southern Taxi Track (STT) was accorded by the IAF. “The construction work had been completed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the STT had been declared operational with effect from April 11.

An affidavit placed before the Bench added: “Various works related to extension of runway length and construction of new ATC tower have been completed. The airfield was declared 24×7 operational from April 10, 2019. All civil scheduled flights proposed by the DGCA during the summer/winter schedule are being accommodated without any hindrance and the traffic services are being provided round the clock by the ATC, Chandigarh.”

The High Court, on March 3, 2020, had directed the Chief of Defence Staff, the airport authority and other stakeholders to put their heads together for resolving issues around the installation of the CAT-III instrument landing system at the airport.

Appearing before the Bench, the then Assistant Solicitor-General of India, Chetan Mittal, had underscored the difficulties in installing the facility at the airport. More than a few defence structures would have to be demolished for the purpose. As such, the need to provide it in future could be considered at a later stage.