Bengaluru: The Tech City may get its second international airport in South Bengaluru around the Kanakapura Road area. On Friday, an extensive discussion was held in Vidhan Soudha where six possible locations for the airport were discussed. Most of the members agreed for the location near Somanahalli village as it falls 70 km away in diametrically opposite direction to the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA). The final decision is yet to be taken by the state government.
The Infrastructure Development Department (IDD) has proposed six locations for building the airport. Two locations, Harohalli and Somanahalli are in South Bengaluru while one which is Bidadi is in southwest.
Airport would be world-class: DKS
As per a report published by Deccan Herald, the chances for airport on Bidadi are less as it does not has a flat terrain. While the chances for Harohalli are also rare as a large part of the land in this area has already been designated for industrial development. According to sources, due to the presence of about 3,000 acres of undeveloped land, Somanahalli was considered a prime location.
As per the report, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, said in the meeting, “We don’t have to build a second airport just because Tamil Nadu is also building an airport in Hosur. We have to build a world-class airport which would be spread over 5,000 acres of land.”
Difficulties in other locations
The member also discussed the advantages and disadvantages of building the second airport in northwest areas of Bengaluru which were Kunigal and Dobbspet. According to Home Minister G Parameshwara the airport in this region could boost development towards Tumakuru. Though the chances for these locations are less as they are close to the existing airport.
Due to the proposed construction of 250-meter-tall skydeck in Hemmigepura the chances of building a second airport in this region are also less. The skydeck could create disturbances in aircraft movements.
After the location for construction of airport is confirmed, a committee will be formed by the Ministry of Civil Aviation to study different aspects of the project. In the next meeting which is scheduled next week, the decision regarding the location could be finalised, as per the minister for infrastructure development.
