SHILLONG, Aug 13: Umroi airport, despite being half-a-century old, has had a halted and stunted growth that owes it public indifference and intrigues at various levels, including the corridors of power.
And the sordid saga continues apparently because certain vested interests are hell bent on aggrandisement ignoring the greater public good.
The Meghalaya High Court had taken an active interest in the Umroi airport case and some members of the judiciary had even visited certain airports in difficult terrains to try and understand what’s holding up the Umroi Airport expansion plans.
Air travel is now a compulsory part of life and even distant Arunachal Pradesh is now connected by direct flight to Delhi via IndiGo Airlines four times a week. If the Umroi airport were connected to the national capital there would be many more high-end tourists visiting the state during the peak season and through the year. But this was not to be.
Since the early 2000’s most airports of the Northeastern states have the capacity to handle medium and bigger aircraft resulting in direct and improved connectivity to most metros and other vital routes of the country.
In the case of Umroi airport which dates back to the early 1970s, it initially connected Shillong to Kolkata. Those were the Vayudoot days. Since Vayudoot became history, there was a long hiatus. With state government’s renewed initiative the tempo picked up again in the last six years.
The expansion project of Shillong Airport was initiated in 2008-09 jointly by the Government of Meghalaya and Airports Authority of India (AAI) to extend the present runway length from the existing 6,000 feet to 7,500 feet to enable landing and takeoff of bigger aircraft such as Airbus 320 etc. For this purpose 224 acres of land was acquired by the Government of Meghalaya in 2008-09 and handed over by the landowners by the year 2010. As usual land acquisition always runs into hurdles in this state. Some landowners alleged unfair compensation by the Ri-Bhoi district administration. Landowners refused to part with the land even after receiving compensation stating they were unfairly compensated.
In July 2015, the Meghalaya High Court registered a suo motu case as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on the delay over expansion of Umroi airport. The Meghalaya High Court made the state government, AAI and Defence authorities respondents to the case.
This led to the villagers vacating the land for which they had received compensation.
After the land was free from encumbrances, the expansion project was expected to be expedited. The total amount paid as land compensation for 224 acres of land as per the market value then is estimated at Rs 50 crore. But there are several aggrieved landowners who have filed cases in Shillong and Ri-Bhoi for a higher compensation. In case the courts rule in their favour the compensation amount will escalate significantly.
Strangely, after the land acquisition process was completed, AAI claims that expansion of Shillong Airport is not feasible due to presence of obstacles in several clusters in the vicinity of the airport. The cost of removing the obstacles is reportedly estimated to be between Rs 7,000- 8,000 crore.
Notably, on May 6, 2024, Transport Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar was quoted in a section of media that Umroi airport was not feasible for bigger aircrafts to land. Normally feasibility studies are conducted before the implementation of any infrastructure such as highways and airports etc., to determine the fitness of the topography of the locations prior to land acquisition.
From Dhar’s statement, it appears that the feasibility study is being conducted only in 2024 by AAI in consultation with the state while land had been acquired as early as in 2008-09. The question is: in whose interests and on whose expert opinion was the land acquired without a prior feasibility study and after spending crores of public money?
If as per the statement of the Transport minister the present feasibility studies suggest that Umroi airport is not fit for expansion of runway then there was gross negligence in planning for the expansion of the airport. The state has already coughed up a big sum by way of land compensation, while the public continue to endure travelling woes. Who is responsible for this?
The airport expansion project saw villagers losing their homes. Plans for school buildings were set aside only for the expansion of the airport which was touted to benefit the state.
In 2022 again there were discussions to explore possibilities for constructing a new Greenfield airport without considering the 224 acres of land already in possession of the government. Is there a hidden agenda or vested interest in the proposal for land acquisition for a Greenfield airport at this stage? Those responsible for such bad decisions must be held accountable.
Currently Umroi is connected to other Northeastern states such as Imphal, Aizawl, Dibrugarh etc. Beyond the Northeast the airport is connected to Kolkata by two daily flights and two flights a week to New Delhi. The airlines operating from Shillong Airport are IndiGo Airlines, Alliance Air Aviation and SpiceJet.
The type of aircraft currently deployed at Shillong airport are Turboprops comprising the ATR-72 and Bombardier – Q 400. These Turboprop aircrafts have certain limitations in terms of direct connectivity to metros other than Kolkata due to longer travel time, and limited range/ distance that can be covered by them.
The size of these aircrafts makes it difficult to navigate during the windy season (February-April). During intense rainfall, fog and certain wind speeds in the monsoons, flights may are delayed or cancelled thereby creating huge inconvenience to passengers. Many passengers therefore choose to travel via Guwahati which takes a full four hours of road travel but ensures a reliable air journey.
Posers for govt
Knowledgeable circles say that the government and the AAI ought throw light on the following:
Was there any detailed feasibility analysis before land acquisition in 2008-9? How was land acquired when the airport expansion plans are now short-circuited? Who benefited from the land acquisition? Which authority carried out the feasibility study in 2024 and what is the credibility of that firm? How long will Meghalaya wait for a full fledged airport when other smaller states have made progress in this aspect?
Subsidy for all?
At the moment passengers to and from Delhi are paying subsidised airfare. The state government is spending a few crores every month to pay the airlines. Is this arrangement viable? Why should the state government subsidise the fares of tourists travelling on the Delhi-Shillong-Delhi flight?
