Land handed over to AAI for Shillong Airport expansion, Meghalaya tells high court

The Meghalaya government on March 12 informed the Meghalaya High Court that land required for the expansion of Shillong Airport has been handed over to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) last week.

According to an Action Taken Report submitted before the court during the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), around 22 acres of land were handed over to the state Transport Department on January 28. The department subsequently transferred the land to AAI on March 6.

The report further stated that 10.30 acres of defence land required for the airport expansion were handed over by the concerned authorities to the Transport Department on February 27, in accordance with a memorandum of understanding. The land was later transferred to AAI free from encumbrances on March 6.

In exchange for the defence land, the Transport Department handed over 7.72 acres to the Defence Estate Officer, Guwahati Circle, on the same day, the report said.

During the hearing, Deputy Solicitor General of India Dr N. Mozika informed the bench that some time would be required to obtain environmental clearances for the project from both the state and central governments.

He also told the court that the concept and design-level approval for the expansion of the airport and related works had already been granted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on January 27. The AAI will now apply for execution-level approval after submitting 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 timeline for granting execution-level approval.

The court also directed Meghalaya’s Additional Advocate General K. Khan to inform it about the timeline for obtaining environmental clearance from the state government to enable the project to move forward.

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 improve air connectivity to Meghalaya and enable the airport to accommodate larger aircraft. The project includes the extension of the runway and development of related infrastructure to enhance operational capacity.