At the Calicut International Airport in Karipur, work is presently underway to develop an expanded Runway End Safety Area (RESA). Muneer Madampat, the airport director, claims that 22% of the construction is finished.
The construction company, Gawar Construction Ltd., has requested a three-month extension due to the rain-induced delay, even though the project is expected to be finished by March of next year.
To improve tabletop runway safety, the RESA is being expanded from 90 meters to 240 meters. The goal of this extension is to avoid mishaps like the August 7, 2020, Air India Express flight disaster, which claimed 21 lives and injured more than 100.
The Dubai plane went over the runway and plummeted more than forty feet below the surface. A lengthier RESA could have avoided the catastrophe, according to experts that looked into the 2020 accident. Large flights are no longer conducted out of the airport after that catastrophe.
The construction of the perimeter wall and other associated activities are still underway, but the soil filling work has been put on hold because of the monsoon rains. Due to the district’s high rainfall, mining operations have been temporarily halted. According to the officials, the project was being executed in an environmentally responsible way.
To construct the embankment, more than 3.5 million cubic meters of soil are being gathered from authorized locations chosen by the Revenue and Geology Departments. According to officials, additional locations for dirt collection were found, and environmental permission was obtained. Soil extraction from certain locations would start as soon as the rains stopped.
By filling in and raising the land next to the runway ends, the RESA will be expanded on both ends of the runway. With the aid of equipment, the construction is moving forward in several strata. A soil strength test is conducted after 25 centimeters of soil have been poured and compacted to 20 centimeters. The following soil layer is then spread out and pressed down. Side walls are not necessary because the raised parts are being secured by geogrids on the sides.
It is anticipated that the construction of the enlarged RESA will revitalize Calicut Airport, allowing wide-body flights to resume. The State government purchased 12.48 acres of property from 98 landowners in the villages of Pallikkal and Nediyiruppu in order to make this possible.