The Rs 2,100-crore modernisation of Calcutta airport has hit a roadblock, with the state government failing to keep its promise to free 6.6 acres for the extension of the secondary runway by March.

Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials fear the delay in the transfer of the plot might result in the modernisation project missing the 2010 deadline.

A road linking Kaikhali and Narayanpur, running to the south of the airport, cuts across the plot on which the extended secondary runway is supposed to stretch.

To free the land for the extension work, the government had agreed to build a 1.5-km semi-circular road which will connect Kaikhali to Narayanpur skirting the earmarked plot. The new road was supposed to be ready by March, following which the state was to release the freed 6.6 acres.

“The deadline for laying the new road and removal of the shanties close to the point where the extended runway will end was March. But now the government is saying the process would take many more months because of the polls and other complications,” a senior AAI official told Metro on Sunday.

“The modernisation project, scheduled to end in 2010, can be delayed by months as the civic authorities could not give us a new deadline for vacating the land,” he said.

Officials of Rajarhat-Gopalpur Municipality, the local civic body, said they were not sure when the new road would be ready. “Construction is on but it is difficult to say when it will be completed,” said civic chairman Tapas Chakraborty. On the eviction of the shanties, he said: “We have to work out a rehabilitation package. Everything is on hold now because of the Lok Sabha elections.”

The secondary runway is being extended as part of the modernisation scheme to make space for a bigger aircraft, such as A-380, to operate. “To make room for an A-380, we need to extend the 2,400-m runway by at least 840m,” said an official.

The runway has already been extended by 440m to the north. On the southern side it is to be stretched by 400m, of which 360m will fall in the existing compound and the rest will overlap with a part of the present Kaikhali-Narayanpur road.

“We are waiting for the new road to be ready, after which the boundary wall will be demolished and a new one will come up,” said an AAI official.

AAI officials also alleged that the choked drainage system of the airport was yet to be cleared by the civic authorities. “The place where the integrated terminal will come up remains submerged for most part of the year. The authorities are not doing anything to clear the blocks in the network,” said an official.