JOIN USThe BBMP is all set to acquire three acres of land along the northern periphery of the Jakkur aerodrome in northern Bengaluru despite the flying school objecting to projects in the area last September.
As per the latest notification, the deadline for filing objections to acquiring 11,097.04 sq mt of land along the northern compound of the aerodrome ended on Tuesday.
Civic body officials said they hadn't received any objection so far.
"The project was approved at the government level after ministers from different departments considered it essential to connect a landlocked GKVK Layout.
"Until yesterday, we did not receive any objection to our notification. We will take the next step as per the procedure and call tenders soon," a senior BBMP official in charge of the project said.
The airport metro line is estimated to take away five metres of land along the aerodrome's western wall.
"About the road, we wrote to them (BBMP) last year objecting to any land acquisition. We are losing land on all sides, which limits the possibility of extending the runway," a source in the school said.
A school official said the flying school had suffered due to the elevated highway. The elevated metro line will render nearly half of the runway unusable. "For years, the aerodrome land (about 225 acres) has been the first option for any development project," he said.
Will help school: MLA
Local MLA Krishna Byre Gowda claimed the new road would benefit the flying school by providing for the runway expansion. "The length of the runway is going to increase. The government is acquiring 10 acres of land for this purpose. That expansion area includes a CDP Road," he said, explaining the new road is an alternative to the kutcha road that will be subsumed into the runway.
He stressed that the new road will not affect the operations of the flying school. "The new road is necessitated by the runway expansion. If the runway expansion does not take place, there is no need to make this road," he added.
Captain Arvind Sharma, one of the tenants of the aerodrome, rejected the claim that the new road will not affect the flying activities. "The square shape of the aerodrome has a purpose. Unlike commercial airstrips, expansive additional space on both sides of the runway has been provided here so that during an emergency, there is space for trainee pilots to land the aircraft without harming anyone," he said.
The alternatives
Two roads that could have been used to connect GKVK Layout to Ballari Road have been blocked by private construction. Officials said Jakkur Plantation Road, handed over to the BBMP by a group of private developers, was their first choice, but it had to be dropped as acquiring the private land seemed a costly affair.
"There was an access road from Jakkur Main Road to GKVK Layout which has been recently occupied by a private party. A dispute is going on regarding the ownership of the land. So, we had to find a new way," a BBMP official said.
DH News Service