SHILLONG: The Ri Bhoi district administration is seeking guidance from the Supreme Court on whether Shillong Airport can be developed at a time when a case is pending in the apex court.
It may be mentioned that last May, the Supreme Court stayed the order passed by the High Court of Meghalaya on the acquisition of land for expansion while responding to a petition filed by a few land owners of Nongsder.
Speaking to The Shillong Times on Tuesday, Ri Bhoi Deputy Commissioner C.P Gotmare said the matter is pending before the Court and they are awaiting a verdict.
He, however, said the district administration would try to seek permission from the apex court to go ahead with construction of necessary infrastructure in the airport. “We want to go ahead with the construction and for this we are seeking guidance from the Supreme Court. We are also seeking legal experts’ views,” he said.
The High Court of Meghalaya, while taking exception to the undue delay in expanding the airport at Umroi, in December 2015 set a deadline of four months to complete the project.
However, the order was stayed by the apex court after some land owners who were not paid compensation moved the Supreme Court.
Shillong Airport is of great importance for the landlocked state of Meghalaya in absence of proper road and railway network.
The tourism industry in the State is also expected to receive a boost once the airport, which till date has only one ATR flight connecting Shillong with Kolkata, is fully functional.
In the absence of a fully functional airport, hundreds of passengers from Shillong are forced to travel almost 130 km to the Guwahati airport to board a flight.
