Tiruchy awaits Defence department support for major infra development

Sensing the potential of handling more international passengers in the Tiruchy International Airport, the Airports Authority of India had sanctioned a new integrated terminal building parallel to the runway with associated apron, multi-level car parking, and ramps to reach the departure terminal on the first floor in an area of 60,723 sq m at a cost of Rs 951 crore. However, acquisition of the required land remains unresolved though it has been a long-pending demand of the residents of central TN.

“Tiruchy also has the shortest runway among the top 15 airports in the country, spreading over 8,136 feet. This makes the bigger aircraft avoid the airport despite the fact that it has the potential of handling more international passengers. We require at least 12,500 feet runway, for which, we require 510 acre of land in total. Although we managed to get the rest of the land, we couldn’t acquire the 164.68 acre owned by the Defence department”, said Dr M A Aleem, Tiruchy International Airport Advisory Committee member.

He said that due to the shortage of runway, bigger aircraft avoid the airport and therefore, and this has affected the international service and the passenger count as well. “Compared to 2017, the international passenger flow fell at minus 6.9 per cent. In 2017, the international passenger flow was 1.24 lakh, but it declined to 1.15 lakh in 2018. But, the domestic passenger flow witnessed a remarkable increase (1.29 lakh in 2017 to 2.67 lakh in 2018) and this proves that the airport is capable of handling any good number of passengers. However, it requires the services for which we are in dire need of the runway expansion”, Dr Aleem said.

Of the required 510 acres, over 350 acres that was under the State government’s possession has been transferred. However, the airport authority is still waiting for the land from the Defence department. “We have approached Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman when she was in Tiruchy along with the district administration and her response was positive. We hope things will be on the right track soon,” Dr Aleem said.

Geographically located at the centre of the state, during the MGR’s regime, Tiruchy was considered to be declared as the capital of the state. Due to the advantages of road connectivity to most parts of the state, it has been playing the most sorted spot for the passengers to take a breaking during their journey.

In order to ensure the prompt road connectivity and to ease the vehicle congestion in the city, the Junction RoB was planned. Estimated at a cost of Rs 81.40 crore with a six arm bridge, it was planned to enable vehicles heading to other districts to bypass the city. They could thereby avoid frequent traffic congestion near Dindigul road and Madurai road.

However, except for the Chennai arm of the RoB that awaits 0.66 acre of defence land to complete the high level road, works in all other arms had been completed while two arms were opened for traffic. For acquiring the defence land, the district administration has been approaching the department for a few years. Due to the delay, people and the elected members have been angry, which had led to a heated argument with the Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who was in the city to inaugurate the Defence Industrial Corridor recently.

Though the minister assured to transfer the land with immediate effect, there is no positive signal so far. According to K Rajamani, District Collector, “Since the equal value land transfer is only the solution with the defence department, we have identified the land in Kanchipuram district and the proposal has been sent to the department. It is now the defence department to decide. If the 66 cents of land has been transferred, the RoB would play a vital role in the road transport in Tiruchy and the traffic congestion in the city would be minimise.”

The Tiruchy Corporation has proposed 70 acres of defence land in Mannarpuram on the Trichy-Madurai National Highway as a viable option for establishing the Integrated Bus Terminus (IBT).

For more than two decades, commuters have been demanding the establishment of a spacious IBT to overcome congestion at the Central bus stand. Though several locations were identified, nothing had materialised so far.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on October 2017 announced that the IBT would be set up at Kottapattu near Trichy Airport. However, feasibility studies were said to have inferred that the site was unviable for a bus stand project.

Close to 70 acres of land near Mannarpuram roundabout and KK Nagar on the Trichy-Madurai NH has been identified by the civic body as a suitable place for the IBT facility.

Meanwhile, the Tiruchy MP P Kumar made a strong appeal to the Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman when she was in Tiruchy.