Navi Mumbai: The Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has accorded Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance to the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) for development of Dhakale island in Shahbaj village to set up radar for the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA). The land for setting up of the radar facility was given to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) by the CIDCO.
“The MoEF&CC has accorded CRZ clearance vide File no. 11/8/2024-IA.III dated April 25, 2024, for area development of Dhakale island including connectivity works and construction of the proposed Airport Surveillance Radar (ASR-1), a critical Air Navigational & Surveillance Facility for operation of Navi Mumbai International Airport at Dhakale Island, Village Shahbaj, CBD-Belapur as proposed by CIDCO,” the planning agency, which is the implementing authority of the project and has 26% stake in the NMIA, said.
The copy of the clearance letters is available with the Maharashtra State Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and can be seen on the website of the MoEF&CC at https://parivesh.nic.in/, the agency said in a public notice.
Earlier, the radar system was to be set up in a large strip behind the Delhi Public School under CIDCO’s NRI complex and the planning agency itself had submitted a report to the central government that this would stall construction projects and land transactions worth Rs 3,000 crore. However, after conducting inspections and submitting technical reports, it was decided to move the radar and monitoring system to Shahbaz village.
According to sources, the radar system will be set up at three places for this airport. While the first of these systems will come up at Dhakane village, the second system will be set up in the interior of the airport and the third on the hills of Matheran. Apart from the radar system in the interior of the airport, the system installed on the outside is considered important for the movement of the aircraft.
While the Flight Inspection Unit (FIU) of the AAI completed the testing of ILS recently. The authorities tested various aspects of the ILS operations at the runway 08R/26L. ILS testing is part of calibrating flight path to ensure operational readiness of the runway. The FIU will now submit its findings and report to the AAI, which will take further decisions. The Indian Air Force (IAF) will also be conducting a trial run using a C-130J transport aircraft and a Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet.
This crucial exercise will test the airport’s infrastructure and systems before it officially opens to commercial flights in March 2025. Once the trial run is complete, a thorough evaluation of the runway, navigation aids, and other facilities will be undertaken. This process, which includes calibrating flight paths and obtaining necessary approvals, is expected to take several months.
Meanwhile, the first aircraft at the NMIA will be landing on October 31, 2024, albeit on a trial basis. The aircraft will travel after the commissioning of the Instrument Landing System (ILS), which is part of calibrating flight path to ensure operational readiness of the airport.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has awarded ‘NMI’ as the location code to Navi Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd. (NMIAL). IATA Codes are an integral part of the aviation and travel industry, which help identify destinations and traffic documents of a commercial airline. In addition, this three-letter code also facilitates the smooth running of hundreds of electronic applications, which have been built around these coding systems for passenger and cargo traffic purposes.
