Baljek ignored as govt focuses only on Umroi

SHILLONG, Nov 24: At a time when the government has shifted its entire focus on expanding the runway at the Shillong Airport at Umroi to facilitate the landing of bigger aircraft, the state’s other airport – Baljek – at Jengjal on the outskirts of Tura seems to have skipped the minds of those in power.
Baljek Airport, inaugurated with much fanfare by the then President Pratibha Patil in 2008, is now being used as a venue to host festivals and other events.
The airport near Tura has remained non-functional due to the fact that it was conceived as a STOL (Short Taking Off and Landing) airport with a runway of around 1,120 metre which is capable of handling only small 20-seater aircraft.
The government has, time and again, spoken about upgrading the airport to enable ATR-42 type 50-seater planes to operate from there but there has been no solid effort on the ground.
The only development came in the form of acquisition of 58 acres of land for expansion of the runway. An amount of Rs 3.01 crore was handed over to the then West Garo Hills deputy commissioner to be paid to the landowners as compensation.
The government appointed a committee to fast-track the appointment of a Project Management Consultant to take forward a proposal for operation of the Baljek Airport on public-private-partnership mode but the committee and the proposal vanished into thin air.
The central government drafted a regional connectivity scheme under viability gap funding to rope in private parties to operate “underserved airports” (like Baljek) and “unserved” areas or airports, but no private party came forward.
The airport hosted the Me’Gong Festival last year and this year too, the festival will be organised at the airport on November 29-30 even as Baljek awaits a change in its fortunes.