Bhubaneswar: There appears to be a menace to Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar as its runway isn’t in correct form owing to the delay in execution of the re-carpeting work.
Though the authorities of the airport had deliberate to hold out the much-awaited re-carpeting work of the runway in 2019, it couldn’t be executed on account of restrictions clamped following the outbreak of Covid-19.
It is pertinent to say right here {that a} plant was additionally arrange for finishing up the re-carpeting work of the runway. Due to the extended delay, the involved contractor isn’t prepared to undertake the mission. Hence, the airport authorities are considering to go for the retendering of the re-carpeting mission.
“The work was scheduled to begin last year but due to COVID-19, the contract could not be carried out. The contractor is not interested to carry out the work. We are going to issue fresh tender and it will take four to five months to materialise the tender,” mentioned airport director VV Rao.
He additional mentioned as soon as the tender is finalised, the contractor will arrange a plant and we hope that total course of might be accomplished within the subsequent six to seven months.
Re-carpeting is vital because it ensures that the runway is in prime situation to obtain the plane. The course of entails analyzing the runway for a wide range of points together with whether or not the plane is having a easy touchdown.
Many specialists and pilots say that if the re-carpeting work isn’t taken up for lengthy, it could create issues as airways would possibly cease working from Bhubaneswar airport.
“From safety point of view, re-carpeting work is most essential. The friction on the runway has increased due to rise in the frequency of fight operations at the airport here,” mentioned Pilot Rajnarayan Mohapatra.
(Edited By Suryakant Jena)