COIMBATORE: The Airport Authority of India (AAI) and the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) have been working to finalise a design to construct an underground drainage canal attached with a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) to manage the natural drainage canal that passes under a section of the runway inside the Coimbatore International Airport.
The airport authorities said the project is estimated at a cost of Rs 93 crore by the civic body and discussions are on to decide between the box culvert method and the pipeline method to lay piplelines for the discharge of treated sewage out of the airport campus.
After bringing the drainage out of the runway, the water is planned to be released in the natural drain leading to the Aachankulam tank. The Airport authorities suggest that this measure is needed as the untreated sewage emits foul odour and attracts birds that could affect the air operations on the runway.
Sources said the Coimbatore corporation has already proposed to construct a sewage treatment plant (STP) to treat waste water flowing through a natural drain that passes through the premises of Coimbatore International Airport.
On the southern side of the airport, a section of the compound wall is fitted with iron grills to allow the flow of water from a natural drain that enters from the north crossing Avinashi Road. This collects sewage from around five wards up to Nehru Nagar, Tidal Park, and other areas.
However, with sewage mixing into the channel, plastic and solid waste accumulate on the grills, blocking the flow and letting only water pass through. The sewage, which travels inside the airport for around 600 meters, goes underground only at the runway and other areas and is covered with green sheets.
The untreated sewage has led to foul odour spreading across the airport and nearby residential areas. Additionally, the stagnation outside the Airport compound attracts birds posing a threat to air operations, according to airport sources.
"Hence, we demand that the civic body treat the sewage and let it inside the premises in a closed channel. As the preliminary works for the airport expansion are underway, the sewage management is also to be addressed earlier. However, the confusion persists about who is going to fund it. Bringing it under the part of the Airport expansion project is one of the options," sources said.
K Manian, Councillor of Ward 23, said there are two locations that need STP - one is at the west side of the Airport (Brindhavan Nagar), which comes under the Airport premises after the expansion, and another is for the sewage channel that goes under the runway on the northern side of the airport. He said that both would be executed in the proposed budget, which is anticipated to bring relief to the airport and the residents around the airport.
"After the assessment, the Coimbatore corporation estimated `93 crore to carry out the entire work with STP, and we also projected the fund allocation. Currently, discussions are on to finalize whether the design - it could be a box culvert or a pipeline structure. Once it is finalised, we can discuss the financial resources. We expect that it would be done along with the airport expansion work," said Director of Coimbatore Airport G Sampath Kumar.
Speaking to TNIE, CCMC Commissioner M Sivaguru Prabakaran said that a detailed project report (DPR) for the sewage management system at the Airport has been given to the authorities. "The DPR with the outlay of `93 crore was prepared based on a study to manage the sewage and storm water drains that come under areas around the Airport which includes places where the Airport is to be expanded. It is like an integrated plan as it covers all sewage and storm water channels and sewage treatment plants.
The Airport authorities submitted it to the AAI by which they can plan it along with the Airport expansion work. The AAI will decide whether to execute the project works on their own or hand it over to us by depositing the amount," he said.