Dropping of Parandur Has Prompted Beefing Up Of City Airport’s Passenger Handling CapacityTamil Nadu is considering a metro line, an underground monorail or a road to connect a planned fifth terminal at Chennai airport as the state revives expanding the airport after scrapping a second airport at Parandur. The terminal, T5, will sit on the western side of the airport, between the runways, with a road link to the Tambaram–Maduravoyal bypass. The state is now studying a second link to GST Road and the existing terminals, so passengers can move between them without a long detour, officials said.In Aug, when it was announced that the Parandur project was being scrapped, it brought back Airports Authority of India’s earlier proposal for a satellite terminal. The state said it will support the expansion and build the connections.Chennai airport director M Raja Kishore said that adequate links to the existing terminals could push back the airport’s saturation point to 2050, leaving time to build a second airport. T5 will be built to handle 20 million passengers a year, he said. “It will increase the number of parking bays in Chennai airport from 84 to 124 and aerobridges from 17 to 42. The design of the terminal is in early stages. After completion of the T3 integrated terminal, the work for T5 will begin in earnest,” he said.Officials said Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) will prepare the detailed project report and plans to invite bids for a consultant by Nov. Officials from TIDCO, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Water Resources Department (WRD) met to decide who should prepare the report, a source said. Chennai Metro Rail Ltd was also considered, but TIDCO got the job. The agencies are working out the terms of reference.The aim is to establish a multimodal transport facility. Chennai Metro Rail’s plan to extend a line from the airport to the Parandur site via Tiruneermalai and Sriperumbudur will be reworked to end at T5, officials added.The report will also assess an underground monorail and a road along the airport’s perimeter. If connectivity to GST Road is established, passengers boarding flights at T5 will have a link from the existing terminals. Similarly, those alighting at T5 can reach the city quickly instead of taking a detour via the Tambaram–Maduravoyal bypass.NHAI, meanwhile, has proposed a four- or six-lane expressway from T5 to the Tambaram–Maduravoyal bypass. It would include a cloverleaf interchange at Tharapakkam and a link to Outer Ring Road, to speed cargo from Sriperumbudur industrial belt. WRD is studying whether pillars built in the Adyar river would obstruct the river’s flow and flood nearby areas. “Eco-aspects should be factored in as constructing pillars on waterbodies will have a negative impact,” says urban planner Pavithra Sriram.
