Hope not lost for airport extension of Seaport-Airport Road in Ernakulam

Naval Armament Depot at Aluva expresses willingness to surrender land for the project

Even as little progress has been made in establishing full-fledged seaport connectivity of Seaport-Airport Road in Ernakulam district of Kerala, the deadlocked land acquisition process to extend the corridor from HMT Junction to the international airport at Nedumbassery has got a shot in the arm, with the Naval Armament Depot (NAD) expressing willingness to surrender land for the extension project, in return for the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala (RBDCK) widening HMT-NAD Road. Hassles associated with acquiring 5.30 acres owned by NAD and four acres owned by HMT have been cited as reasons for the inordinate delay in the airport extension of the corridor. Sources in the RBDCK, which built the 11.50-km HMT Junction-Irumpanam stretch of Seaport-Airport Road 17 years ago and handed it over to the PWD later, exuded confidence that the NAD-owned land would be handed over in the coming months. “We hope HMT too surrenders the land necessary for the airport extension, since it was once government-owned land and had been handed over free of cost to the agency for industrial activity which did not take place as envisaged. The State government is making efforts to reach a negotiated settlement, although a litigation is pending before the Supreme Court. In addition, the KWA ought to relocate a pipeline on HMT-NAD Road,” official sources said.