Pic: Chairman of Karnataka Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation SG Nanjayyanamath inspects facilities at Vijayapura Greenfield Airport (TOI)Vijayapura: All the major physical works at the Vijayapura Greenfield Airport have been completed and only the environment clearance is awaited.“The Supreme Court has heard the arguments and reserved the verdict. The verdict is expected in a month’s time and once the clearance is accorded, the airport will be inaugurated,” said chairman of Karnataka Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation SG Nanjayyanamath.Speaking to TOI after inspecting the facilities at the airport he said the airport will help promote tourism, industry, trade, commerce in the region and also provide easy connectivity with Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi.To facilitate Airbus-320 operation, infrastructure at a cost of Rs 618.7 crore had been sanctioned and 99% of the works have been completed.Two Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) vehicles from the Rosenbauer Company in Austria, costing Rs 25 crore, have arrived at the Vijayapura Airport. Rs 13 crore has been spent on establishing DVOR (Doppler Very High Frequency Omni Directional Range), a ground-based radio navigation aid that helps aircraft determine their position and direction relative to the airport. It provides pilots with bearing information, allowing for safer and more accurate navigation, especially during take-offs and landings in adverse weather. Bomb detection and disposal squad (BDDS) has been set up at a cost of Rs 2.7 crore at the airport.Nanjayyanmath said for night operation of Airbus-320, additional land is required and a Rs 65 crore proposal by PWD to KIADB has been sent.Industries minister MB Patil said he has been in touch with the Union minister for environment, forest and climate change Bhupender Yadav to get the environment clearance soon.Vijayapura airport has come up on the 727 acres area at Buranapur-Madabhavi villages off Vijayapura city by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).When Govind Karjol was the public works minister, he evinced interest in speedy work in the construction of airport and now the airport is ready.
