Date:09/06/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/06/09/stories/2003060901520300.htm

Southern States - Karnataka

Airstrip in Hassan to be upgraded to airport

By Our Staff Correspondent

HASSAN JUNE 8. Will air services from the district become a reality? If the renewed efforts of the Government are any indication, it will soon have an airport, helping businessmen and promoting tourism.

While the statement made by the Union Minister, Sreepad Nayak, in the recent Parliament session in this regard has come as dampener, what has raised hopes is the visit of a team from the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to assess the proposal for upgrading the airstrip at Bhuvanahalli, 4.4 km. from here.

Mr. Nayak, replying to a question by G. Puttaswamy Gowda, MP, said there was no proposal before the Ministry of Civil Aviation to upgrade the airstrip into an airport.

The consortium awarded the contract for the work on the Bangalore International Airport at Devanahalli is understood to have made it conditional that the Centre should not take up the work on the Mysore and the Hassan airports.

However, the State Government is keen on upgrading both the airports on a commitment to the business community.

The recent efforts by the Government to boost the tourism potential in the district and the plans to set up a special economic zone have made the demand for an airport here more strident.

It is learnt that it is the Government which has requested for the assessment by the team.

The team led by the P.S. Daswani, General Manager (Planning), AAI, D.K. Kamra, Chief Manager (Engineering and Construction), AAI, G.B. Rawath, Assistant Director (Civil Aviation), AAI, and R.S. Ramesh, Marketing Manager, Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation, visited the airstrip and held discussions with the district administration.

According to sources in the district administration, Krishna Kumar, Principal Secretary (Infrastructure Development), has taken keen interest in the project.

The team is understood to have been convinced that the airstrip has all the potential to become an airport.

The team members observed that a high-tension power line had to be drawn away from the airstrip and land of nearly 30 families acquired for taking up the project.

A senior official told The Hindu that the district administration had taken steps in this regard, and directed the zilla panchayat to widen the two-km. road to Bhuvanahalli from the highway.

The KPTCL would shift the power line in quick time.

The all-weather airstrip was developed under a Centrally sponsored scheme, with the work starting on August 15, 1967.