NEW DELHI, Sep 2: The Centre has urged Meghalaya to hand over the long-forgotten Baljek Airport at Jengjal near Tura to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) as requested earlier by the state for modernisation of the infrastructure so as to make it ready to handle ATR-72 aircraft.
In a letter to Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma, newly-appointed Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya M Scindia sought the former’s immediate personal intervention to help the AAI take up work on the airport soon.
Conrad was requested to look into issues relating to the request of the Meghalaya Government to AAI for taking over the Baljek Airport.
The draft MoU was sent to the state government in 2013. The proposal for the airport was sent to the Central government in 1983 and the project was sanctioned in 1995. Late Purno Agitok Sangma was the prime mover for this maiden airport.
The airport, built at a cost of Rs 12.52 crore, was inaugurated in October 2008 by the then President, Pratibha Patil but has remained unused till date.
Subsequently, for expansion and development of the airport for operationalisation of ATR-72 type of aircraft, AAI submitted a proposal for acquisition of 56.5 acres of land and a DPR with development cost of Rs 183.63 crore was sent to the state government in June 2017.
The state government in August last year said that survey for the land had been completed and the process of obstacle removal is being initiated. AAI soon followed it up and requested for additional information regarding existing infrastructure, land, finance, traffic demand and action plan.
As per Air Safety requirement, provision of Runway End Safety Area (RESA) of 240 m x 60 m is recommended and VFR operation with Simple Approach Lighting (SAPL) is proposed in Phase-1 along with city side infrastructure and runway extension. In total, 125 acres of land has been acquired and handed over to AAI, free from all encumbrances, for development of Phase-I of the airport.
Further, for IFR operations with ILS and CAT-1 Lighting System, additional land of 115 acres may be reserved by the state government, Scindia’s letter to the CM pointed out.
No scheduled commercial air service is available at the Baljek Airport at this time.
