This story is from January 3, 2019

Relocation of cargo facility unlikely to hit operations

Relocation of cargo facility unlikely to hit operations
Nitin Gadkari (File Photo)
PUNE: Shifting of the cargo facilities at the airport to facilitate construction of the new terminal will have no bearing on domestic and international freight movements, officials said on Wednesday.
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The cargo facilities will be shifted around 300 metres away from its current location to an empty plot belonging to the Indian Air Force (IAF) by February but officials said it will take close to a month to transfer the land.

The decision to shift the facilities was taken at a meeting in Delhi recently.
“There is a vacant BSO (barrack store office) yard plot located near the Pune airport director’s office towards the airside. While the defence authorities (Indian Air Force) have approved transfer of the plot to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) so that the cargo operations can be shifted, the plot needs to be transferred to us first. We are hoping that the plot comes under our possession within a month,” an airport official told TOI.

The official said that the actual shifting of the cargo facilities — both domestic and international — could take more time thereafter.
“Though the distance is only a few meters, once AAI receives possession of the plot, the planning department will take over. We cannot shift both the domestic and international cargo facilities without proper planning. It can take around a fortnight to draw up the plan. The infrastructure will be set up later. Only then will both the cargo facilities be shifted. While there has been an improvement in international cargo exports since the past couple of months, domestic cargo movements are on an upswing,” the official said.
Airlines’ representatives, however, expressed a different opinion. “A complete shifting of infrastructure will surely require cargo operations to be shut for some time. However, it is difficult to say whether it will create a negative impact as we are sure that the shutdown, if any, will be for long,” an airline official told TOI.
The meeting in Delhi on December 26 was attended by Union road, transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari, who is also the chairman of the infrastructure committee, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Pune guardian minister Girish Bapat, and MP Anil Shirole, among others.
“We are looking at the actual shifting to take place by February. The airlines have been notified about the same. Shifting is important as the ongoing construction of the terminal building cannot be hampered. We are looking at making the terminal building ready for operation by December,” another official said. The official said that the state government has to provide land to IAF in lieu of the relocation of its BSO Yard and commander works engineer (CWE) office.
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