SHILLONG, July 15: The High Court of Meghalaya has asked authorities, including Ministry of Defence, state government, Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Director General of Civil Aviation, to take swift action and provide necessary impetus for the development-cum-expansion of the Shillong Airport project.
A division bench, comprising Chief Justice Indra Prasanna Mukerji and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh, stated that it had in its May 15, 2025 order noted the efforts taken by the state and central governments to facilitate the project.
Appearing for the state government, the Additional Advocate General submitted a note, prepared by the state government, to the court. After scrutinising it, the court learnt that 22 acres of land is required for the project.
According to a draft master plan, runway 4 (RWY 4) would be extended by 571 metres taking its total length to 2,400 metres. On completion of this extension of RWY 4, aircraft landing operation would be from the runway 22 (RWY 22) and their take off from RWY 4. Out of the 22 acres of land required, 10.3 acres of land is proposed to be acquired from defence authorities.
“Acting on our observations and requests made in our last order, the Cabinet of the State Ministry on 4th June, 2025 approved purchase of 11.75 acres of land for Rs 72,17,56,237 by entering into sale agreements with individual landowners. The land is expected to be acquired by July 2025,” the court said.
It further stated that in April this year, the Ministry of Defence had accorded sanction to the state government to work on the 10.3 acres of military land at the Umroi Military Station, Shillong following an agreement reached between both sides for transfer of land of equal value by the state government to the Defence Ministry.
Deputy Solicitor General of India Dr Mozika, who appeared for the AAI, submitted that the tender for carrying out construction, renovation and alteration of the airport’s infrastructure would be granted by the AAI to a contractor immediately upon receipt of land from the state and defence authorities and on obtaining the necessary environmental clearance.
Dr Mozika further submitted that the AAI would also have to remove some impediments to aircraft operation caused by the presence of mounds, trees etc. along the flight path to the airport.
On examination of the report, the court found that only the essential preliminary ground work, required for the airport’s expansion and development, has been done.
“From now, a substantial amount of work is required to be done at appreciable pace to make the project operational in the near future. Hence, expeditious steps should be taken by all authorities concerned which include the Ministry of Defence, the State government, the Airports Authority of India and the Director General of Civil Aviation so as to apply the necessary thrust for the project to become operational,” the court said in its order.
