Second round of hydrological study to be done for elevated corridor in Chennai airport

A second round of hydrological study will be prepared in order to check the feasibility to build an elevated corridor and T5 Terminal for Chennai airport.

The move to build a T5 Terminal and a connecting elevated corridor for passenger access was mooted by the Tamil Nadu government a few monthsago in order to enhance the capacity of the airport.

T5 Terminal

With the proposed T5 Terminal located near the remote bays, an elevator corridor for vehicular movement has to be constructed for air passengers to enter and exit this building.

Officials of Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Tamil Nadu government, along with a few other stakeholders, recently held a meeting in which discussions were held on the alignment of the elevated corridor.

While AAI had a tentative alignment planned, the State Highways Department communicated the exact alignment linking the T5 Terminal with the NH32 (near Madha Engineering College).

“When we initially planned the T5 Terminal, a hydrological study was done. It had to be done to know whether the flow of water in the Adyar River will be affected if pillars are built near the bund. At that time, the study indicated that there will not be any impact on the water flow. Now, since the alignment has been finalised, Anna University will begin another detailed hydrological study,” an official said.

Based on the report, AAI will also need another approval from the Water Resources Department.

The next round of discussions between AAI and the State government will be held within a few days to decide and hire a consultant for planning the terminal and the elevated corridor. The firm will require a minimum of 6-8 months to submit the detailed project report regarding this project.