01 November 2004	Monday	17 Ramazan 1425

PESHAWAR, Oct 31: The NWFP government and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) have raised a dispute over the issue of building a new airport or expanding the existing facility in Peshawar.

Instructions for setting up a new airport were issued by President Pervez Musharraf over two years ago.

During his visit to the provincial capital in 2002, the president had directed the CAA to construct an airport of international standard here but till a new airport becomes operational, facilities at the existing airport be expanded. However, after more than two years the CAA and the provincial government have not been able to take a final decision about the new airport.

While the provincial government was opposed to expand the existing airport for permanent use, the CAA was of the view that the provincial capital did not need a new airport and the existing facility if expanded would be sufficient to meet future requirements.

Officials said that the province was opposed to the expansion project because of its political and financial implications.

The proposed expansion plan, officials said, would result in large-scale displacement as the government would need to acquire land in areas arround the existing airport.

"Some 4,000 families will be displaced and a large number of people will lose their business and employment," said an official.

The issue involved greater political repercussions for the provincial government as, the inhabitants of the area likely to get be affected had already started a movement to thwart the authorities' intended bids.

The government also faced opposition to the expansion project from its own members of the provincial assembly belonging to the area including Tehkal, Pawaka, University Town, Abdarra Road and Nawa Killey. " Provincial minister for environment Kashif Azam has already given a threat of self-immolation in case the expansion project is carried out," said an official.

On the other hand, according to official documents, the CAA is opposed to the construction of a new airport on the pretext that number of passengers from Peshawar was persistently dropping for the last several years.

The CAA is of the view that the provincial capital was not likely to register growth in its air travellers in several years to come because of several reasons.

None of the European airlines, according to documents available with Dawn, was willing to start operation to and from Peshawar because of security concerns. Similarly, the constructions of an express way from Peshawar to Islamabad - M1 - would encourage travellers to go to Islamabad for embarking on air travel abroad.

"It would take only one and a half hours to reach Islamabad from Peshawar, or even less than that, once the express way becomes operational," an official of the provincial government said.

Not only that the expansion project, he said, would cause massive displacement, it would be very exhaustive and expensive exercise for both the CAA and the provincial government.

The proposed plan, officials said, would roughly require an additional amount of Rs 300 million for land acquisition and much more for relocating utility services and development of civic needs in the area.

The existing airport, which is being used for civil aviation and an air base was commissioned in 1927. The airport was given international status in 1976. A unique aspect of the Peshawar airport is that a broad-gauge railway track also passes through its runway.

Out of total 47 airports in the country, after Karachi and Islamabad, Peshawar is the third station which generates huge revenue for the CAA. While the other stations including Lahore are running into losses, officials said. "The provincial government is totally against the CAA's plan. Certainly, we need an airport of international standard, but it should be outside the city," an official told Dawn.

Recently a joint meeting of the senior officials of the CAA, provincial revenue department and other related departments was held here in which effects of the expansion project were discussed.

During the meeting the representatives of provincial government urged the CAA to review the Badbher site on Kohat Road, which they believed, was the best location for aviation.

An official source told Dawn that the NWFP government vehemently opposed the expansion of the existing airport because it was neither economically viable nor it was suitable for defence and environmental point of view.

"We don't think it will be a wise decision to build an airport inside the city and environmental implications will be more serious," the official said.

The CAA, initially selected the site near Badbher, some 16 kilometres southeast of Peshawar and a summary was sent to the defence ministry for final approval. However, the Badbher site was dropped on technical grounds. The site selected for the new airport, said a development planner, was not suitable because it lacked funnel area required for wide-body aircraft's landing.

"Besides, there are a lot of complications in matters relating to land because the land selected in Badhber is mostly being occupied by unauthorised people," said the development planner.

Similarly, the site was not suitable because it would lead to create complications for the air traffic originating from there as the existing airport, which is the property of Pakistan Air Force, would continue to be used by the PAF planes.

"Planes taking off from the two airports, by virtue of their location, would intersect each other at a specific point posing greater risk to commercial and fighter jets originating from their respective strips," said the planner.