PATNA, June 17 -- The civil aviation department (CAD) and the Patna district administration have identified land for extension of the runway at Patna's Jayprakash Narayan International (JPNI) airport and suggested construction of an underpass each for vehicular movement on either ends of the runway, outside the airport campus, besides whittling down the height of the clock tower atop the state secretariat to ensure safe air operations, said officials in Patna on Monday. The short runway length and obstacles, including trees, clock tower, mobile towers and multi-storied buildings, on either side of the runway, make for a steeper glide slope of 3.15 degree against the usual 3 degree for any descending aircraft, classifying Patna among 11 critical airports in India. A joint team of CAD, headed by special secretary Nilesh Ramachandra Deore and Patna's DM Thiyagarajan SM, identified small chunks of vacant land measuring 14.5 acre of the animal and fisheries resource department on Runway 07 (Phulwarisharif end) and another 15 acre on Runway 25, to the corner of Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park (Patna zoo), for extension of the existing runway from 2,072 m to 2,600 m. The team, which inspected the area around the airport on Saturday, also suggested constructing an underpass each from the Patel Chowk on the Shaheed Peer Ali Path (zoo end) to the airport, and near the Jagdeopath side (Phulwarisharif end) for vehicular movement, said officials. It also suggested trimming the height of the 56-metre tall clock tower atop the state secretariat by 17.5 metres. The clock tower stands, which is beyond the permissible height, is in the approach funnel of an incoming aircraft, in addition to 45 trees in the zoo, posing a big safety risk for air passengers. "My heart is in my mouth till I cross the secretariat clock tower," said a trained pilot, who occasionally flies the Cessna aircraft. The transfer of two small chunks of land to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for runway extension, trimming the clock tower and construction of two underpasses, will not only allow extension of the runway strip to 2,600 metres, but also facilitate safe air operations, said an official familiar with the development. Category C aircrafts, like Boeing 737 and Airbus 320, which presently operate at Patna airport, require a minimum runway length of 2500 metres for safe air operation, said aviation experts The state team's ground assessment follows Bihar chief secretary Amrit Lal Meena convening an inter-departmental meeting of officials from the CAD, the revenue and land reforms, the environment forest and climate change departments and the Airports Authority of India on June 3. S Siddharth, ACS of Bihar's cabinet secretariat department, had on Saturday tasked special secretary Nilesh Ramchandran Deore to jointly inspect the area around the airport along with Patna district magistrate Thiyagarajan SM. The team was tasked to identify available land and suggest measures for ensuring safe air operations. The state's effort to find a solution for safe air operations in Patna follows the Airports Authority of India sounding out the state about unsafe air operations, given the short runway length and obstacles on either side of the runway, ahead of the Prime Minister's visit to Patna on May 29. The air safety issue, pending since 2012 despite the AAI relentlessly pushing the state for additional land to increase runway length and to remove encumbrances, has recently gathered momentum following the June 12 plane crash involving an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner flight (AI 171) from Ahmedabad to Gatwick (London), carrying 242 people....