Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia seeking explanation from the developers of Delhi international airports on the delay of implementing the project has not gone down well with civil aviation minister Praful Patel.
Taking a pot shot at Ahuluwalia holding a meeting with the GMR-led group, Patel, in a letter, said the commission?s objections earlier had greatly delayed the award of contract to upgrade the Mumbai and Delhi airports.
Patel?s letter to Ahluwalia comes a day after he called a meeting of the Delhi airport developers after facing problems in the airport during a visit.
Patel has told Ahluwalia that the modernisation & upgradation of the Chennai and Kolkatta airports is also being delayed mainly due to the ?constant objections? being raised by the Planning Commission.
?I take this opportunity to bring to your notice that the modernisation of the Kolkata and Chennai airport is being delayed due to constant objections being raised by the Planning Commission about the scale and size of these airports which we plan to construct,? the letter goes.
The letter adds that objections are being made even though the project has the approval of the committee on infrastructure (CoI) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
?You will appreciate the fact that our plans are keeping in view the needs of the country, a good 10-20 years down the line, and not to repeat past the mistakes (made) at the time of construction of the current IGI airport?s international terminal, plans then approved by the Planning Commission and our ministry,? the letter says.
The letter has also suggested that the deputy chairman look into more pressing matters concerning the infrastructure in the country. ?I am sure in your many visits across Delhi and the country, your attention would have been drawn to the various problems of roads, electricity, water, sanitation, sewerage systems, public transport etc., to name a few, and as always you will effectively address these problems in a time-bound manner,? the letter said.
?It is necessary to point out that upgradation and modernisation of existing airports, growing at nearly 40% plus annually, is a challenging proposition. Moreover, cooperation of agencies like immigration and security must cooperate in giving additional manpower at the earliest, as a large part of the inconvenience currently faced is on account of a shortage of staff and undermanning of these areas,? the letter says.
The Delhi airport developer on their part said that that the congestion at the IGI Airport was likely to ease by June end with new infrastructure, including a terminal and parking places, coming up by then. The new Terminal-3, which would be an integrated terminal with a handling capacity of 34 million passengers, would come up only by 2010. Sources said that in the meeting with Ahuluwalia the airport developers have said that the delay in government handing over adequate manpower has resulted in the problem in the executing the project. The government is executing the Delhi international Airport project at a cost of Rs 30,000 crore spread over multiple phases.