Ever since the in-principle nod for the Jewar Airport came last year, the people, who are living in the vicinity, are quite upbeat about it and getting restless to see it becoming a reality. They have enough reasons for it as the proposed airport would only be second in the vastly populated Delhi-NCR.
Currently, the people, living in the National Capital Region (NCR) have only one airport – Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) in Delhi. People, living away from the IGI Airport, always complain about the accessibility of the airport. If you add the notorious traffic congestions of Delhi-NCR, the attempt to catch the flights becomes a taxing affair.
It is also a fact that people, living in close proximity of the IGI airport, have benefitted a lot out of it. The phenomenal rise of Gurugram could be a result of its proximity to the IGI Airport. The business activities get a lot of boost with presence of an airport in the vicinity. As a matter of fact, most of the multi-national companies have their presence in Gurugram.
The national capital has a vast number of international and domestic travellers and they have always voiced their opinion on having another airport in the region. The places like Noida and Greater Noida have also presence of many companies and business activities. But, somewhere, they lose out to Gurugram when it comes to its proximity to IGI Airport.
After all, the top executives always prefer to have hassle-free travel and they also look for putting up offices at a place where they can swiftly and frequently visit. So, the proposal of Jewar Airport has brought a lot of optimism among people in the area. With opening of Jewar Airport, things will change forever in the area. The distance between the two airports in Delhi-NCR is 72 km which is fair amount of distance to cater to the great density of population which is there in the Delhi-NCR.
“I frequently travel abroad for business purposes and my real concern has always been travelling to the airport. As I live in Noida, I always spend approximately 90 minutes in reaching the airport. The traffic congestions also take a toll on the body. If Jewar Airport comes, my travel time to the airport will definitely be halved. Besides, the area close to the Jewar Airport will also get a significant boost,” said a resident of Noida, Amit Chauhan, who lives at a high rise, Lotus Panache.
Its anticipation has also created a lot of buzz and every stakeholder associated with it have begun taking decisions with keeping Jewar Airport in mind. Although there is fair amount of time left for the opening of the Jewar Airport, the tangible preparations on the ground has begun.
One of the positive development is that the laying of foundation stone is expected either in last week of February or first week of March and it will most probably be done by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Soon after the laying of foundation stone, the work will commence.
As far as the concrete development on the ground is concerned, the district administration of Gautam Budh Nagar is likely to start land acquisition from February 21. The paperworks has been completed and the compensation for the same will also start soon. The District Magistrate, BN Singh, informed that they are holding meetings with the farmers and realty players for the same and hoped that this will soon become reality.
The preparations to provide the resources for the Jewar Airport is also in full swing. As per an estimate, the cost of the project would be around Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore. Recently, the Uttar Pradesh government has allocated Rs 800 crore boost for the Jewar Airport in the state budget which was presented recently.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL), Arun Vir Singh, had also informed that they have deposited Rs 2,850 crore with the district administration’s land department for the farmers for the land acquisitions. He also said that the amount allocated by the state government will be utilised for rehabilitation and settlement of farmers’ families.
With all these developments, it can be said that preparations are on full swing to make Jewar Airport a reality. NIAL is also getting ready to invite bids to bring in concessionaire to complete the project. To provide connectivity to the airport, the UP government is all set to launch the construction of the metro route spread over 29 km. The connectivity will be provided from Pari Chowk in Greater Noida.
There are also plans to connect both the airport in Delhi-NCR through metro line. It will cater to people who have connecting flights from the other airport. This will make the travel much easier for people.
“At present, we need to leave 3-4 hours before the time of the flight. The situation is almost same even if we catch metro to reach the IGI airport. We need to make many interchanges before reaching the airport. So, Jewar Airport will be a boon for the people living in Noida and Greater Noida. But, if we see at the current link road towards Jewar Airport, we can speculate that the load will increase. The authorities should also look towards making an alternative link road so that travel to the airport becomes hassle-free,” said Arup Baruah, a resident of Panchsheel Greens in Greater Noida West.
The cosmopolitan population of the Noida and Greater Noida always had a need of an airport as they need to travel to different parts of the country more often than not. It is well-known that people from all parts of India live in Noida and Greater Noida and there is inherent need for them to travel to their native places.
After opening of the Jewar Airport, it will become the largest airport in the country by surface area (2200 acre site). This proves that the new Jewar Airport will be state of the art airport with all kinds of facilities and technologies in place. Of course, the commuters in Delhi-NCR will be benefitted by the development of another airport in the region. This augurs well for the overall development of the region and Delhi-NCR will never be same after opening of another airport in the region.
