BHUBANESWAR: The Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) was in the midst of a great 2019-20. It was riding on a rising passenger traffic graph of the previous financial year; the airport handled more fights than ever, while its cargo handling had shot up. It even recorded a profit of Rs 18.56 crore in 2018-19 which was a 36.89 per cent jump over the previous fiscal. All was well since the airport has been on an expansion mode, working on new projects to support the growth it is aspiring. From 45.5 lakh passenger traffic in 2018-19, the BPIA was targeting a 100 per cent jump in next three years.
Then January 24 happened. Roof of the under-construction link building between terminal 1 and 2 of the airport came crashing, claiming a life. Managing Director of the firm executing the project was arrested along with two senior engineers. As if the mishap was not bad enough, it exposed that the project was moving at a snail’s pace. The link building construction, estimated at Rs 53.92 crore, had seen barely 22 per cent work when the accident occurred. The entire project, complete with all amenities, is estimated at Rs 87.21 crore and planned to be finished by October 2020 but it is now stuck.
That’s not all. Majority of the projects undertaken by Airport Authority of India (AAI) at BPIA are struggling due to slow pace of work by firms awarded the tenders. The runway of BPIA which has been handling over 40 flights a day needs re-carpeting which was last done in 2007. The AAI had accepted BPIA’s proposal to this effect and Directorate General of Civil Aviation gave permission to carry out re-carpeting work between 10 pm and 5.30 am from November 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020 in the first phase and between 10 am and 6 pm from April 1 to June 30 this year in the Phase-II.
However, BPIA officials postponed the re-carpeting work from November to December 1 last year and even till date the project has not got off initial blocks. Official sources said completion of the recarpeting work at a cost of over Rs 23 crore was targeted by September but by January 15, just 1 per cent was achieved. “Need for re-carpeting the 2,742-metre-long runway was urgent as it has been seeking maintenance for last two years. So far, a plant has come up on the airport premises for the project and re-carpeting will commence soon,” said a senior BPIA official. Similarly, construction of Air Traffic Control-cum-Technical Block has long been pending.
In the past, it was on put hold from December 24, 2017 to September 30, 2018. Original deadline for the project which comprises an ATC tower, technical block, fire station and electrical and mechanical (E&M) workshop was June 30 but only 78 per cent work was wrapped up by January 15. The cost of the project is Rs 34.18 crore and Rs 21.62 crore has been spent yet. Another project moving slowly is construction of parallel taxi track, rapid exit taxi way and apron.
The project estimated at Rs 65.65 crore has witnessed only 46 per cent work against the June 30 deadline. So far, Rs 26.56 crore has been spent. As part of the expansion, hangar for A-320 type aircrafts was planned and the project has been stuck too. Set at Rs 10.74 crore, the project has seen only 30 per cent progress against its March deadline. VV Rao, who took over as Director of BPIA only in December last, acknowledges the expansion work needs a push. “We are trying to remove the roadblocks to expedite the work,” he told TNIE.