Shillong, Mar 12 (PTI) The Meghalaya government on Thursday informed the high court that land required for expansion of the airport here was handed over to the Airports Authority of India last week.
According to an Action Taken Report submitted before the Meghalaya High Court during a hearing on a PIL, the government handed over about 22 acres of land to the Transport Department on January 28, which subsequently transferred the land to the AAI on March 6.
The report also stated that 10.30 acres of defence land required for the Shillong airport expansion were also handed over by the authorities concerned to the Transport Department on February 27, pursuant to a memorandum of understanding.
The land was later given to the AAI, free from encumbrances, on March 6.
In lieu of the defence land, the Transport Department gave 7.72 acres of land to the Defence Estate Officer, Guwahati Circle, on March 6, the report said.
Deputy Solicitor General of India Dr N Mozika informed the court that some time would be required to obtain the necessary environmental clearances for the project from both the state and central governments.
He also said that the concept and design level approval for the expansion of Shillong airport and allied works had been granted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on January 27, and that the AAI would apply for execution-level approval with the required documents.
The division bench comprising Chief Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice W Diengdoh asked the deputy solicitor general to obtain instructions from the DGCA regarding the time required for granting execution-level approval.
The court also directed Meghalaya’s Additional Advocate General K Khan to inform it about the timeline for securing environmental clearance from the state government so that the project can proceed further.
The matter has been listed for further hearing on March 24.
The expansion of Shillong airport has been under consideration for several years as part of efforts to enhance air connectivity to Meghalaya and accommodate larger aircraft.
The project involves the extension of the runway to enable bigger aircraft to land and take off, and the development of related infrastructure to improve operations at the airport. PTI JOP BDC
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