Sindhudurg airport: Prabhu asks officials to solve 'pinpointed' issues

Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu today expressed his displeasure over the non-compliance of some of the requirements during the construction of the upcoming Sindhudurg airport in Maharashtra and asked officials for early compliance, according to a government statement.

Reviewing the on-going work at the airport, Prabhu, who chaired the third review meeting of the greenfield airport within a month, directed officials to ensure early compliance of the requirements and constantly review the progress made, it said.

"The minister has again directed solving of the pinpointed issues. The minister said the safety of passengers is paramount and no compromise will ever be made in that aspect," the statement added.

The airport is being constructed at Parule Chipi in Sindhudurg district by IRB Sindhudurg Airport on a design-build-finance-operate-transfer basis for Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation.

With a 2,500-metre-long runway, the airport will have a capacity to handle 200 departing and 200 arriving passengers during peak hours.

The civil aviation ministry had said it was expecting to complete the airport project by June.

Once functional, Sindhudurg will be the state's 14th airport. At present, it has three functional international and 13 domestic airports.

An airport in Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri will provide better connectivity to the Konkan region of Maharashtra, parts of Goa, north Karnataka and western Maharashtra, Prabhu had said.