AAI begins work to repair damaged boundary wall of decommissioned runway

MANGALURU: The Airports Authority of India ( AAI) has expedited repair work on the compound wall abutting its decommissioned runway 0927 at Bajpe village.
The wall, built nearly four-decade ago, developed a crack following May 29 deluge that hit the city and adjoining areas, loosening the soil beneath. A team of experts from National Institute of Technology – Karnataka are assisting the AAI civil engineers to shore up the earth beneath the compound wall.

Vasamsetti Venkateswara Rao, airport director, Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) that AAI operates, told TOI that central public works department is already on the ground attending to the work.

“Given the situation, we have been pro-active in attending to the same,” Rao said adding that the wall is in no immediate danger of collapsing for its loosened soil base has been shored up. The boundary wall is a good 500 metres away from the decommissioned runway.

Expressing concern about reports in section of media portraying that the runway was in danger due to the incident, Rao said the area where the landslip occurred is far removed from the new runway 0624.

“The huge amount of water had gushed out of the boundary wall on that day did cause some problems to villagers residing beneath the hillock,” Rao said, adding that the airport too recorded the highest single day rainfall for the last two-decades on that day.

“We have already requested the state government through the district administration to take up certain remedial works so that the village is not affected in case of any such unlikely eventuality in the future,” Rao said adding the works suggested include clearing drains so that water can run off easily.