Land acquisition hurdles stall revival of Tripura’s historic Kailashahar airport

The proposed revival of Tripura’s Kailashahar airport in Unakoti district has virtually stalled due to delays and challenges related to land acquisition, state Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury said on July 29.

The airport, which played an important role during the 1971 Indo-Pak war, has remained non-operational for several years.

Chowdhury said the state government was keen to revive the airport, and Chief Minister Manik Saha had held discussions with representatives of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to examine the feasibility of restarting operations.

“The state government plans to revive Kailashahar airport, and the chief minister held a meeting with AAI representatives to explore its feasibility,” the minister told reporters in Kailashahar.

He said the chief minister had asked the AAI to prepare and submit a detailed report on the proposed revival plan, but the report was yet to be received.

According to Chowdhury, additional land would be required to expand the airport as the existing runway is not long enough to accommodate even ATR aircraft.

“Land acquisition is necessary to revive the airport because the existing runway is not long enough even for an ATR landing. It is estimated that Rs 400 crore to Rs 500 crore will be required for land acquisition and airport expansion,” he said.

The minister expressed hope that the chief minister would take an appropriate decision on the project at the right time.

Meanwhile, Congress Legislature Party leader Birajit Sinha renewed his demand for the revival of the airport, arguing that a functional airport in Kailashahar was important not only for passenger connectivity but also from a national security perspective.

“A functional airport is needed at Kailashahar for passenger services as well as national security,” Sinha said.

He claimed to have received information that Bangladesh had established an air base around 8 to 10 km from Kailashahar town.

Sinha said he would soon write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, highlighting the need to revive the airport and seeking the Centre’s intervention.