New path to Pawan Hans under way

Mumbai: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has begun the construction of roads connecting to Pawan Hans, with an aim to commence operations from AAI’s gate thereby closing the Pawan Hans gate by June. According to AAI officials, the work will be completed before monsoon sets in.

The AAI has initiated road-widening work from its entrance gate with an aim to have better connectivity for the Pawan Hans employees towards its hanger. According to an aerodrome official, the current way leads to the Pawan Hans taxiway. Though it is an accessible route, the AAI is coming up with a new road that will be made accessible to their officials by June. The existing road will hence be shut. The road widening work from its main gate will offer better connectivity, also avoiding congestion of vehicles thus avoiding any security concern.

This step was taken after the ministry of civil aviation (MoCA) on the first week of March decided that there would be only one gate for the aerodrome — the main gate, which will bear the AAI’s name. Currently, the AAI does not have control over the Pawan Hans gate and does not have access to the records of visitors at Pawan Hans, which creates a security threat. To stop this, the government decided to close the Pawan Hans gate, from where the aerodrome got its name.

The MoCA decision was taken after a meeting was held earlier this month, focusing on the loopholes in the security of Juhu aerodrome. In the meeting with Pawan Hans officials, AAI and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), the ministry insisted that the gate was against BCAS norms and that the aerodrome should have only one access point. The aerodrome is also set to have the Maharashtra Security Force (MSF) deployed in its premises soon.