Airports in state likely to be renamed

SHILLONG, Sep 15: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday informed the House that the state government is examining a proposal to rename the two airports in the state. “We in the Cabinet are bringing up a proposal to rename the Umroi airport as Late BB Lyngdoh Airport and the Tura Airport as Captain Williamson Sangma Airport,” the CM said during a short-duration discussion on the subject. He said these proposals will be brought out very soon. The government wants to honour these leaders who have contributed a lot to the society and the state and the least that the government can do is to honour them by naming two important infrastructure after them. He further informed that there is also a plan to construct a new airport to operationalise larger aircraft in order to improve connectivity. In addition, the state government has also decided that the runway at the Baljek airport will be extended to make it operational for slightly larger aircraft, Sangma said, while adding that the government has initiated discussion with the Airports Authority of India in this regard.