By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Transport Minister Abu Taher Mondal has informed that the Union Ministry of Defence is still examining the proposal of the State Government to acquire another 32 acres of land belonging to Umroi Army Cantonment for expansion of the Shillong Airport.
“We had sent several correspondences to the Union Ministry of Defence asking about the status on the proposal of the government to acquire the land under the Umroi Army Cantonment. Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma had also met Union Minister of Defence AK Anthony who informed that the matter is still under examination,” Mondal said while replying to a question raised by Paul Lyngdoh (UDP) during the Question Hour on the last day of the Assembly’s Autumn Session here on Friday.
While admitting that these additional 32 acres is of paramount importance with regard to the expansion of the airport, Mondal assured that he would take all possible measures in convincing the Union Ministry to hand over the land to the State Government.
Meanwhile, Mondal also informed that a total number of 192.253 acres which is required for expansion of the runway has already been handed over to the Airport Authority of India (AAI).
“With the completion of the runway expansion, much bigger aircrafts would be able to land at the Shillong Airport,” he said.
While answering a supplementary question put forth by Lyngdoh on whether there was any resistance from a section of the land owners when it came to parting with their land since they considered that the land compensation which is offered by the government is too low, he admitted that during the initial stages, there was an opposition from a section of the land owners as they were not happy with the land compensation.
He added that it was because of this that the Deputy Commissioner has sought an additional fund of Rs 11.44 crore as compensation for the land owners who have been left out due to the steep resistance and non-acceptance of the compensation offered to them during the initial survey.
“The Government had earlier released a total amount of Rs 50.62 crore to the Deputy Commissioner for paying the compensation for the land owners who have agreed to part with their land right from the start,” he said.
Earlier, UDP legislator Paul Lyngdoh informed that few land owners who came to meet him have expressed their dissatisfaction on the land compensation offered by the Government terming it as too low.
“The opposition from a section of the people was on the ground that the land compensation which was paid to the land owners for a similar project in Chandigarh was pretty high. These aggrieved parties wanted the Government to fix the rate of land compensation similar to that which has been fixed in Chandigarh,” Lyngdoh said.
The UDP legislator though expressed happiness over the steps being taken for the expansion of the airport while pointing out that the people deserved better air services connectivity.
Meanwhile, Mondal informed that the hurdle of installing the ILS has also been resolved while adding that the AAI has already submitted the proposal to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for installation of the ILS at the airport. “Besides the ILS, the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) has also agreed to set a refilling station at the airport,” Transport Minister said.
To a supplementary question raised by independent legislator Manas Chaudhuri on whether the department has conducted any kind of study on the air passenger traffic in the State, Mondal informed that the Government had earlier done a study on the air passenger traffic in the State. “As per the information collected from an independent agency, we have around 20 to 32 air passengers who are going down to Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, Guwahati to catch a flight on a daily basis,” Mondal said.
Later, while replying to a question put forth by James K Sangma (NCP) on whether the Government has abandoned the Baljek Airport, Mondal said that it was not true since the Government was trying to acquire more land to expand the airport.
“We would like to see that at least small ATR aircrafts are able to take off from the airport,” the Transport Minister said.
