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Journalism of Courage
After ten years of efforts by local politicians and a huge emotional investment by the development-starved people of Vidarbha,the Multimodal International Hub Airport Nagpur (MIHAN),the ambitious project already taking shape here,is in for a shocker two recent reports by two separate expert bodies to be submitted to the Centre say New Delhi,not Nagpur,is best suited to host the international air cargo hub.
One of the reports is by a special committee of the Planning Commission to be submitted to the Centre while the other is by Ernst & Young for Airports Authority of India (AAI). Sources in the plan body said the committee headed by Anwarhul Hoda,a member of the now-dissolved body,has said in a report on Integrated Logistics that New Delhi would be better suited for locating the international air cargo hub than Nagpur. Nagpur,it says,can at best be a site for a national cargo hub. The report is due to be submitted to the government once the new Planning Commission gets constituted.
The reasons cited,sources said,are that about 70 per cent of the cargo flies in in the country in the belly of passenger aircraft. So,the expert committee believes the place which hosts maximum passenger flights is best suited for having an international air cargo hub, sources said. The basic philosophy behind the panels report,according to sources,is: an international hub has to develop organically. It cant remain dependent on government decision-making. Business interests will apply their own force,they cant be determined by government decision-making.
It is reliably learnt that Ernst & Young,too,has prepared a report for AAI which also doesnt recommend Nagpur to be the ideal place to seat the hub.
Asked what happens to the massive infrastructure that is being put in place at Nagpur for (MIHAN),sources said,that can be used for developing the national hub. As against the panels idea,the feasibility study done by L&T Ramboll for the Nagpur project had suggested that Nagpur is best-suited in view of its central location,best air,road and rail connectivity,as also due to the peculiar fact that the maximum number of international flights fly over Nagpur.
MIHAN has been the single biggest dream chased by the backward Vidarbha region since the past over a decade. Already work for roads and telephone networks,water supply,power unit,international school,a central facility building,flyovers etc is in top gear.
Things,however,have slowed down of late. Among the two single biggest impediments had been handing over of the Nagpur airport to the joint venture (JV) company of state government and AAI (named MIHAN Pvt Ltd) and swap of defence land situated bang in the middle of the proposed project area with an alternative land.
After taking a lot of flak for not hastening the process,Patel announced the handover in February just ahead of the elections. The JV,however,is yet to see the light of day. Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) Managing Director R C Sinha said,This week we are expecting some people from AAI to finalise the shareholders agreement. That done,MIHAN Pvt Ltd will be a legal entity.
