PUDUCHERRY: Lieutenant Governor (L-G) K Kalaishnathan visited the Puducherry Airport on Wednesday following the submission of the Airports Authority of India's (AAI's) new draft master plan for the development of the airport, which proposed the realignment of the airport runway. The plan proposed that the runway direction be reoriented by around 20 degrees, to facilitate the expansion of the current runway to handle bigger aircraft such as the Airbus 321.
Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation K Lakshminarayanan said the AAI submitted the master plan to the chief secretary a month ago. The present runway, spanning 1500x30 metres, can only handle smaller aircraft like ATR48/72 and Q400. With the proposal, the runway would be expanded to span 2300x45 metres, which is suitable for aircraft operations similar to Airbus 321.
Despite being cost-effective and not requiring huge earth filling as proposed in the previous draft, the implementation would still need the provision of an additional 402 acres -- 217 acres from Tamil Nadu and 185 acres from Puducherry -- to expand the runway, according to government sources. The government has to conduct a feasibility study before making a decision. The runway expansion has not materialised so far due to fund constraints and technical issues involving the existing runway.
On Wednesday, the L-G held discussions with airport director K Rajasekhar Reddy, along with secretary to L-G Nedunchezhian, MLAs M Vaidiyanathan and PML Kalyanasundaram. He inquired about the progress made in the airport expansion works and directed authorities concerned to expedite the expansion and make efforts to operationalise the airport.
Later, the L-G visited the defunct Anglo-French Textile mills, Bharthi and Swadeshi cotton mills in Puducherry. MLA L Sampath, Secretary to Government P Jawahar, Director of Industries Rudra Goud, and other officials were present. He directed the officials to submit a report on the feasibility of repurposing the mills to generate employment for the youth and enhance the economy of the union territory.