Expansion of Umroi runway
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The State Government has directed the Deputy Commissioner of Ri-Bhoi district to conduct an inspection and resolve all the issues which have delayed expansion of Umroi airport runway.
The Airport Authority of India (AAI) had earlier stated that the State Government first needed to remove all the ‘obstructions’ before the start of expansion work.
The principal secretary of Transport department H Marwein on Monday told The Shillong Times that the Deputy Commissioner had been instructed to settle the matter amicably.
An AAI official from the regional headquarter said, “There are some trees and buildings besides one church which need to be dismantled for the expansion of the runway.”
“The State Government has assured us that these obstructions will be removed shortly,” the AAI official said.
It may be mentioned that the AAI has already submitted the first part of the detailed project report (DPR) for the expansion of the runway to the North Eastern Council (NEC) and the DPR is now awaiting the Planning Commission clearance.
“The second part of the DPR will be submitted within this month,” the AAI official said on condition of anonymity. It may be mentioned that the State Government earlier this year had handed over 224 acres of land to the AAI for the expansion of the runway and the survey work for the runway is almost completed.
It is learnt that no airline company are keen to operate flights from Umroi until the instrument landing system (ILS) is installed in the airport.
Earlier this year, the State Government inaugurated new terminal building which can accommodate two hundred passengers.
The runway will be extended to about 7,500 ft from present runway of 6,000 ft.
The Umroi airport was constructed in the mid-1960s and became operational in the mid-1970s.