Mumbai Airport Set To Expand

Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) is all set to expand after getting a go-ahead from an expert appraisal panel on the Union Environment Ministry in April.

Here is what is going to change now:

The plan

Of the 308 acres of its encroached airport land, the Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) would need to take possession of 20 acres to carry out the plans. Of this land, six acres will be used to build a taxiway from the parking apron of Terminal T2 to the main runway, and 9.04 acres for another taxiway expansion to enhance airside safety and efficiency. The remaining 4.9 acre will be for facilities such as radar, aircraft parking, aerobridge etc.

Apart from that, the MIAL will also build a vehicle underpass below the secondary runway and a bridge to connect the aircraft parking apron of Terminal T2 to the taxiway leading to the main runway. While the underpass will ferry passengers between the two terminals in less than 15 minutes, reducing the travel time by half, the bridge will help in creating additional holding area for aircraft ready to fly. Lying at a distance of four kilometres from each other, Terminal-1 at Santacruz handles domestic operations while Terminal-2 at Sahar handles international operations.

Also part of the plan is shifting of the air traffic control tower (ATCT) to Kalina. The much-talked about tower was built around four years ago at an expense of Rs 125 crore. However, the shifting of the tower is part of the long-term security strategy and there are no immediate plans to move it.

"The current location is highly accessible from all sides. In view of threat perceptions of security agencies, MIAL is considering shifting the ATCT to a more secure location in the southern part of the airport as a long-term strategy. This project will be taken up for implementation only if advised by the security agencies after careful consideration of all aspects," a report by The Economic Times quoted a senior MIAL official as saying.

Time and money

The proposed changes will be carried over three years at an estimated cost of Rs 3,500 crore. After the expansion, the CSIA will be able to accommodate 50 million passengers by 2020. The airport handled passenger traffic of 45.2 million in the financial year 2016-17.

The implementation

Slum dwellers living on this encroached land would be relocated on the Premier Auto land at Kurla. HDIL has already constructed about 17,000 tenements for this purpose. In the past one year, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority identified slums in 11 areas that need to be shifted for the expansion work to take place.

Terms and conditions

The approval by the expert panel requires MIAL to fulfill certain conditions:

The building will have to be designed taking into account local heritage values, apart from strictly following the National Building Code rules.

MIAL will have to make sure measures are put in place to control the noise levels so that the surrounding habitations are not disturbed.

The Mithi River portion falling in the project area will have to be desilted and cleaned.

No additional groundwater should be tapped to meet the water requirements of the project. Provisions should also be made for rainwater harvesting.

MIAL will have to chalk a plan to dispose of solid waste generated at the airport.

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