As the deadline for the inauguration of the new international airport at Shamshabad begins to draw closer, the debate over the pros an cons of the new facility has begun in the right earnest. The war of words between the GMR group’s Hyderabad International Airport Limited (HIAL) which has built the spanking new airport and those who want the Begumpet airport to stay is now reaching a zenith.
A couple of sticking issues is what has brought this debate into the public domain. One, is the issue of connectivity. Anyone who wishes to reach the new international airport will have to shell out a tidy sum and also start a couple of hours before the check in time. Not that it helps. Compare that with the neighbourhood Begumpet airport which can be reached in quick time in the worst traffic snarls. GMR says that its agreement with the Union Civil Aviation Ministry is watertight, and there can be only one airport in the twin cities and 150 kms around it – and that is the new airport. But if you have to pay 800 rupees (at the minimum) for a taxi drive to the new airport, you are bound to say – I like the existing airport.
Even is the connectivity improves with the PV Narasimha Rao expressway, things are not going to improve. A bulk of the population of the city resides in Secunderabad and they can reach the new airport through the tortuous long – Mettuuda-Tarnaka-Habsiguda-Uppal-LB Nagar route. Driving along the route, in a bottleneck free situation, one will take a minimum of one and half hour to reach Shamshabad. Even if the roads are widened, the distance is going to remain the same – and the taxiwala is going to charge by the kilometers and not the time taken. So its never going to be cheap to reach the new airport, even if an 8 lane road comes into being.
The second issue is also of concern. Once inside the steel and glass façade, the traveler realizes that his purse is set to become lighter with the Airport User’s Fee. This fee to start with of US $ 25, will be charged from those using international flights. HIAL group has indicated that it is not going to charge the amount from domestic users, till the board of the company takes a final call. The reason for the user charges – it cost HIAL a neat packet to build the airport.
Of course, it is going costs money to build a new airport. But, did someone check if the so called costs are actual or padded up and fudged. Did anyone in the government sign off against the expenditures. (The state government and the Union government are shareholders in the project). Just because HIAL says it spent 3500 crores, do we take their word for it. Hypothetically, why should the passenger pay for a Mercedes that has been bought by HIAL for its Managing Director and shown as a part of the airport cost. Or for the hundreds of buses that HIAL has procured for various reasons. All these need to have been validated. The problem is that no one did it.
This kind of rip-off is just what the dyed in the wool Communists and their trade unions have been warning us. How can one replace a public sector monopoly (Airport Authority of India) with a private sector monopoly (Hyderabad International Airport Limited). Let there be competition between Shamashbad and Begumpet airports. Let the people decide which one they want to use.
It’s the absence of a regulator in the Aviation sector that is leading to this scenario. Mr Praful Patel and his team should have made sure that the regulator was in place before the new airports began their civil work.
HIAL argues that it has an agreement in place which makes it mandatory for the Begumpet airport to close down. But were people of the twin cities asked about this ? Was a referendum done or were elected representatives from the twin cities taken into confidence. Obviously no one has done their homework. The state government woke up to the fact that there was no road to the airport, just as the airport was getting ready. What were HUDA, GHMC and other civic bodies doing ? Why are no heads rolling for this mess up ?
There is a lot that one has to say about Shamshabad and Begumpet. But forcing citizens to use one facility and closing another is not democracy. That happens only in a country ruled by dictators.
3 comments:
You are absolutely correct..... its really bad that once the airport was nearing completion our govt. started thinking abt the connectivity and other issues..... these were all supposed to be decided even before the foundation stone was laid.
My situation is really bad... I am a native of hyd currently in blr... now imagine my situation if I have to fly from blr to hyd....
Time to reach blr airport - 2 hrs
Flight Time - 50 mins
Time to reach home from hyd airport - 1.5 to 2 hrs
And if by chance the user charges are laid on domestic passengers also.. situation is going to be very bad.
Think of Capt. Gopinath on one side who has brought a revolution in indian aviation industry through air deccan.... people just started flying more frequently and then comes BIAL & HIAL to spoil everything. Except corporate ppl I don't think normal people can think of flying this way.
I think the AP and karnataka governments must come up with some solution asap.
Exactly.. $25 user's fee is outrageous! It's certainly a rip off. A person will have no choice but to fly from that airport and get ripped off? The majority of the residents aren't that rich, and $25 is a lot for a middle class working family there. After all, they didn't make the airport for US visitors alone. Did they?? Plus, the jerks built the new airport at a place that is so off reach for most city dwellers.
I think they should put a sign " ONLY FOR RICH AND LUXURY", its a shame how this issue has evolved...shame on hyderabad airport...i prefer to land in mumbai and stay over my relatives then come by a train to hyd...
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