Why the plan to build a parallel runway at Chennai airport never took off
A long-standing plan to construct a parallel runway at Chennai airport has been abandoned due to increased urban development and land acquisition challenges. Officials noted that the surrounding area is now too densely populated to implement the project originally conceived two decades ago.
Why it matters
The inability to expand critical infrastructure highlights the tension between rapid urban growth and the need for improved transportation capacity.
At a time when the Tamil Nadu government has been planning to increase the handling capacity of Chennai airport to 55 million passengers a year, it is to be remembered that Airports Authority of India (AAI) once had a plan to construct a parallel runway.
Nearly two decades ago, at first, AAI had planned to construct a parallel runway for the airport in a bid to enhance capacity and reduce congestion.
At that time, the State government still had active plans to build a second airport for the city at Sriperumbudur and this was one of the reasons why it was shelved. Subsequently, over years, many habitations had come up in and around the area and it became challenging to implement the plan.
This project included land acquisition in quite a few locations such as Kolapakkam, Manapakkamm, and Gerugambakkam among others. The residents also objected to this plan.
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