Common int'l airport for Hosur, B'luru ideal option

The Karnataka government has mooted plans to have a second international airport for Bengaluru as the existing one near Devanahalli is projected to approach its saturation in matters of handling passengers by 2033 and cargo handling by 2040.

The KIAL handled 37.5 million passengers and 400,000 tonnes of cargo last year. Given the disclosures by Infrastructure Minister MB Patil, the government is actively considering several locations.

On Sunday, the minister indicated that a meeting will soon be convened to decide the same. Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government also has floated the idea of building an airport at Hosur, an industrial hub in that state skirting the border with Karnataka.

Several large cities such as New York, London, Paris and Washington DC have two international airports. Bengaluru’s population exceeds theirs.

Secondly, connectivity to the KIAL from the city’s core still poses hassles and an alternative one somewhere in the southern or eastern extremity is urged. When looked at from this angle, a second airport is a vital infrastructural necessity.

The exclusivity clause that binds the government from having a second airport within a 150 km radius ends in 2033. It should pose no problem as the selection of a site, planning and execution of the project are all likely to consume the remaining years.

It is useful to be reminded that the MoU for the KIAL was signed in 2002 while the commissioning happened in 2008.

The proposal to explore the location is likely to unleash stiff competition among realtors, developers and legislators to get the facility located closer to their constituencies with an eye on prospects of appreciation of land value and employment opportunities.

With the TN government also planning to have an airport in Hosur, just about 35 km from Bengaluru, it is not difficult to imagine that travellers from Bengaluru’s eastern and southern sectors may opt for the Hosur airport.

It is for the two state governments to explore the possibility of coordinating their plans to have a common international airport that could serve both the cities and states.

This may bring them rich dividends besides defraying the huge infrastructural investment such a project would entail.