Shamshabad Airport - An Architectural Masterpiece

What a proud moment it is for the Hyderabadis. One of the best airports in the world and the best airport in India has been built in Hyderabad. We get to enjoy such amazing facilities that you forget that this is India when you are in the airport. The whole look of the airport is amazing and whats more amazing is how the airport has been built which is almost self sustaining with all the recycling of water and all and also the way in which modern technology has been put to use.

It was very aptly named Rajiv Gandhi airport and not NTR airport. TDP was raising baseless protests by asking the airport to be named NTR airport. How did the TDP contribute in building the airport? they did nothing. From the very inception it was the congress party which came up with the idea and found a very good contract with GMR group who have been making some amazing structures. The entire credit goes to the congress party. What was even more fitting was the fact that it was Ms. Sonia Gandhi who officially opened the airport. It could have been Dr. Manmohan Singh who did the honours, but Sonia Gandhi a very able leader was behind all this so it was fitting that she was the one who inaugurated it .

The airport has been built in an are of 22 sq km, (thats huge) and it has a capacity to handle a whopping 12 million passengers. It is filed for an approval of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), this approval, if it comes by will make all the other airfields across the country go green with envy. The ratings are given on five criteria namely sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy efficiency, materials and indoor environmental quality.

The negative pressure area that is present in this airport is amazing. All the major places are having special smoking zones these days. This unique feature doesnt allow the smoke to escape anywhere unlike in the old airport where the smoke escaped through crevices. The best feature of the airport though is the use of glass with low U-value and low shading coefficient which will block the heat while allowing light. The air conditioning with centrifugal fans, insulated roof and walls, use of recyclable material and efficient waste management systems are some other aspects that draw special attention. Lighting per square foot in the passenger terminal block uses only 0.9 watts of energy, very low when compared to the prescribed 1.3 watts by international standards.

It also has measures for storm water collection and recycling soiled water to be used for flushing and gardening. The paints used are low on volatile organic compound which generally causes nausea which is what we experience when we enter newly painted houses. This will not be there. The terminal is continuously flushed with fresh air which mounts to 15 cc/min/person. All these features are what a green field airport should have. Hope this clarifies the doubt that a lot of people have had with regards to what a green field airport meant.

The only negative i see to this airport is the distance from the city. Begumpet airport was the best as it was located in the center of the city and it was also very near to some of the best 5 star hotels in Hyderabad. This is the only drawback. Proposals are being made that adequate transport will be provided to make the travelers reach the airport in a very short time, but that might happen that easily considering the very heavy and unruly traffic of Hyderabad. Hotels are not an issue, a lot of new ones will pop up in no time. The other negative is the fact that the passengers are being charged extra for travel Rs 1000 to be precise. Not much when compared to the money spent on the ticket but a waste none the less. Whats to be seen now is how the government will manage the roads to be more efficient for speedy travel to the airport.

Now everything is in Hyderabad. No need to go anywhere for anything.

Proud to be a Hyderbadi!!