In a setback to the ruling BJP, a complaint was filed against the Karnataka government before the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the Governor's office in connection with a land deal worth Rs 1,500 crore in Bengaluru. In it, Human Rights Protection and Corruption Eradication Forum State President Dr Raghavendra SR, alleged that the ruling BJP is all set to hand over 75 acres of the Jakkur Aerodrome to “private parties with vested interests”.
The Aerodrome, located near the Bengaluru airport, consists of 221 acres of land donated to the Karnataka government by the Mysuru royal family to train pilots at affordable prices. The complaint alleged that the government plans on selling 50 acres of the space for commercial projects and 25 acres for an aero-club. "In January 2014, the elevated corridor over NH 44 was constructed to improve the connectivity between the Bangalore city-centre and the Kempegowda International Airport. The elevated corridor (flyover), over 12 metres (39 feet) high, constructed immediately at west side of the runway at Jakkur Flying School shortens the effective length of the runway from 950 metres to 450 metres, therefore making aircraft-landings at Jakkur Aerodrome unsafe," Raghavendra claimed. However, the government is “bent on continuing landings and take-offs, merely to favour PPP projects, he further alleged.
"The required land cannot be acquired even though the decision was taken to extend the runway to the east. Other attempts to acquire private land to extend the runway also couldn't materialise," the complainant said. "In November 2019, the Director of the government flying school eventually dropped the idea of consented acquisition as per directions of the court. Therefore, at present, the Jakkur flying school cannot extend the runway due to the inability of acquiring additional land to the east," he added.
The said land on the east has been developed as villa townships like Sobha Emerald, with all necessary approvals and NoC from Jakkur Flying School. The township has been fully occupied for over 15 years. "If extended by 170 metres, the runway would extend into existing developments, endangering inhabitants. Hence, it is impossible to extend the runway to the east considering all the present developments in the neighbourhood," Raghavendra elaborated.
In addition to this, the Bangalore Metro's (BMRCL) airport line has been finalised to run alongside the elevated express corridor bordering Jakkur flying school on the west for which a no objection certificate has been issued by Jakkur Flying School on 3rd September 2021, he said. This further reduces the effective length of the runway from 450 metres to 350 metres which makes it impossible for safe aircraft landings, Raghavendra asserted.
"Despite residents of Shobha Emerald apartments built right next to Jakkur Aerodrome lodging an official complaint regarding danger to their lives, the Jakkur Flying School continues to operate for training purposes with inadequate runway, knowingly exposing the lives of trainee pilots and the residents in the vicinity to grave danger," he said. The effort of reviving the flying school by "endangering the lives of a large community residing in the vicinity is irrational and life threatening. Hence, the operations of Jakkur Flying School should be stopped immediately," the complainant demanded.
Referring to an aircraft crash on July 18, he said that the aircraft missed Shobha Emerald villas by a few metres, otherwise many lives would have been lost on that day. "The Jakkur Flying School tried to hush up this incident, which the DGCA is currently investigating. This further strengthens the fact that the aerodrome should not continue to operate and should be immediately closed," Raghavendra concluded.