MUMBAI, May 17: More than six months after the mid-air collision between two commercial aircraft over Haryana, the modernisation of air traffic control systems in Delhi and Mumbai airports (MATS-BD project) is continuing at a snail's pace.

While Civil Aviation Ministry glibly parrots promises of meeting the July-September deadline before parliament and the inquiry commission looking into the mid-air collision, ground realities suggest otherwise.

Though installation of the secondary surveillance and L-band radars is almost complete, support equipment is still being put into place, say airport sources. Officials connected with the MATS-BD project in the city, also point out that training of air-traffic controllers (ATCs) on the new equipment is proceeding at a sluggish pace. Only about half of the more than one hundred ATCs operating out of Mumbai have been given training on the new equipment stimulator so far, it is pointed out. The ATCs themselves blame short-staffing as a reason for their training schedules being upset.

According to Mumbai airport sources, radar and support equipment imported by the Raytheon Corporation, USA, which is implementing the project, frequently developed faults as a result of which they needed to be returned to the suppliers for repairs and replacement. Every time a piece of equipment is taken out of the country, clearances need to be obtained from various government departments. The lengthy procedures also apply when the equipment is under warranty, say sources. Similarly on the return trip, a replacement or repaired part has to clear customs and octroi collection points before it is ready for installation.

Though estimates are presently unavailable, it is felt in aviation circles that the cost of the modernisation programme at Mumbai and Delhi airports have far exceeded initial projections of around Rs 450 crore. The MATS-BD project involves automation of air traffic control systems, installation of secondary surveillance radars (SSRs), distance measuring equipment (DME), and radar data processing systems.