Chandigarh flight from Hisar airport stays suspended since September 20
NOW, FOG AFFECTS THE ILL-EQUIPPED AIRPORT THE FUNCTIONING OF WHICH WAS HIT BY SMOG EARLIER
HISAR: After being functional for 17 days, the seven-seater flight from Hisar to Chandigarh remains suspended since September 20 and there is no hope in near future owing to the prevailing foggy conditions in the region.
Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar along with local MLA Kamal Gupta, BJP workers and some officials had inaugurated the flight on Hisar-chandigarh and Chandigarh-hisar route on September 3. Private carrier Spicejet had started the flight but it was stopped on September 19.
Officials are also silent on the progress work inside the airport and are not issuing any statements about the resumption of flight services.
While addressing mediapersons a week ago, deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala had ruled out any possibility of resumption of flights from Hisar due to poor visibility after the state witnessed dense smog and foggy conditions during winter.
A senior official, requesting anonymity, said, “The main reason to stop the day-time flight is poor visibility and work on the night landing and take-off facility has not been started due to non-availability of lights that guide an aircraft to land or to taxiway to the runway.”
Deputy commissioner Ashok Kumar Meena has also said that no lighting facility and poor visibility is the reason behind stopping flights at the airport. “Deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala, who is also holding the charge of Haryana civil aviation department, had issued a statement saying that soon the department will arrange lighting systems and flights services will resume,” the DC said.
An official of the public works department (PWD) of B&R wing, requesting anonymity, said, “We have sent an estimate of ₹16 crore for the CAT-2 lights which will be installed on the runway. CAT-2 are portable lights which help the pilot to identify the runway and land an aircraft. Some other points are pending from the environmental ministry.”
He said the airport has an active Precision Approach Path Indicator unit (Papi-unit) which was installed last year. “We have also sent an estimate of ₹1 crore for different lighting systems including Blue Appron, Thrashhold, Runway edge lights and two more units of PAPI and constant current regulator (CCR),” he said.
The local administration has claimed that the work including construction of boarding and exit area at the Hisar airport has been completed in the first phase. Visible road leading to airport, walls around the airport, fire safety systems and other facilities are also available at the airport. The work on the second phase is underway and includes expanding of the runway from 4,000 ft to 9,000 ft, installing lights for night landing facility, acquiring nearby land, clearance from different departments etc.