Chances of int?l airport at Jhajjar bleak

The chances that construction of an airport in Jhajjar, Haryana to serve passengers from Delhi and Haryana will start within the next couple of years seem bleak with civil aviation minister Praful Patel saying the group of ministers (GoM) was still looking into the legalities of a second airport in view of agreements signed with the developers of the IGI Airport.

The minister said this at the meeting of the Consultative Committee of the members of Parliament attached to the ministry of civil aviation on Monday.

Haryana is still the only state in the country without an operational airport but the agreements with the developers of the IGI airport also affect the proposed airport at Jhajjar.

But the Haryan government is still optimistic. The issue of setting up of an international airport within the National Capital Region (NCR) falling in Haryana was raised by member Parliament from Rohtak, Deepender Hooda on Tuesday.

It may be recalled that Deepender Singh Hooda had, in December last, sought intervention of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in setting up of a Greenfield airport-cum-cargo air complex within the NCR falling in Haryana. The new airport would cater to lower cost passenger services, air cargo, helicopter services and aircraft maintenance services at a site covering an area of 4,347 acres in Jhajjar, said Hooda.

This site is located in villages of Mandothi, Jakhoda, Rohad, Saidpur and Tanda Heri in tehsil Bahadurgarh near the intersection of National highway No-10 and the Kundli Manesar Palwal (KMP) expressway. At the same time, Hooda had also urged the Prime Minister to guide the ministry of civil aviation to expedite Haryana’s proposal and conduct an immediate review of 150 km clause of the Airport Infrastructure Policy of 1997. The setting up of an airport at Jhajjar would be within 150 kms of the existing airport at Delhi.

The Government recently cleared a revised policy on Greenfield airports allowing construction of a new airport within 150 km of the existing one, subject to special conditions and permission from the Union Cabinet.