Things You Need To Know About The Proposed Kishangarh Airport

After laying the foundation stone for the construction of the Jaipur Metro's underground section in 2013, the then prime minister Manmohan Singh had unveiled his government's plan to develop 100 new airports to give air connectivity to smaller cities. After all, more and more people were going to become frequent flyers. The first project on Singh's mind was the Kishangarh Airport in Ajmer.

“Ajmer is a noted tourist destination with the famous dargah of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, and there is Brahma temple in Pushkar town. Besides, the region is known for industries, including that of marble. The new airport project will push economic growth,” the media had quoted Singh as saying.

Three years later, it was recently reported that about 85 per cent of the construction work had been completed, and the rest would be completed by December this year; the airport could become operational by July next year. The seven months between the construction work completion and the start of operations will be spent in securing approvals from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

PropGuide takes a look at some facts about the upcoming airport:

• The city: Kishangarh is famous for its painting style that goes by the same name and was evolved in the 18^th century. The city is also known as India's Marble City and has renowned temples that are visited by thousands of pilgrims and tourists every year. This is why it is no surprise that the upcoming airport, at the National Highway-8 lying 25 kilometres from the Ajmer city centre, will have a white theme and artefacts and painting with local flavour. Apart from that, 2,000 trees surrounding the area would take care of the green cover near the airport.

• Estimated cost: Estimated to have been built a cost of Rs 161 crore in the first phase, the 2,700-square-metre passenger terminal building will have the capacity to handle 150 passengers, a 2,000-metre long runway, along with six check-in counters, a security-check unit and a parking capacity for 125 cars. The airport will allow day-time operations of smaller aircraft. Several airlines are already set to start their operations from Delhi and Mumbai to Kishangarh.

• Size and land issues: In 2013, when the then prime minister laid the foundation stone for the project, a land parcel of 441 acres was allotted to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for developing the airport. However, there were some compensation issues and protests by villagers from Rathoron ki Dhani ensued. The state government was unable to acquire about 69 acres. The acquisition of the remaining land is a must for completing the 4-km boundary walls and other construction work. State authorities are hopeful of addressing the compensation issue soon.

• The name: At the initial stage, there were differences over the name of the proposed airport. While one side wanted it named after the Sufi saint, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, another side wanted it named after the Hindu king Prithiviraj Chauhan. However, it was finally decided that the airport will be named after the founder of the city, Jodhpur Prince Kishan Singh.

• Green energy: While a 100-megawatt solar power plant will be used to light up the airport, the water-harvesting system will take care of the water needs, and there will also be a sewage treatment plant. For Rajasthan faces a severe water shortage, recycle and reuse of treated water could prove a game-changing technique that might later be replicated by other upcoming airports as well. The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, was given the task of developing the sewage treatment plant.

• The other airports: Rajasthan has several operational and defunct airports. While Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur have operational airports, the Nal Airport in Bikaner is an army base and does not support any commercial operations. The cities of Kota and Jaisalmer house the defunct airports.