Shillong: The Government of Meghalaya has informed the Meghalaya High Court that land required for the expansion of Shillong Airport has been handed over to the Airports Authority of India.
During the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on Thursday, the state government submitted an Action Taken Report stating that around 22 acres of land had earlier been transferred to the Transport Department on January 28.
The department subsequently handed over the land to the AAI on March 6.
The report further stated that 10.30 acres of defence land required for the project were transferred to the Transport Department on February 27 following a memorandum of understanding with the concerned authorities.
This land was later handed over to the AAI, free of encumbrances, on March 6.
In exchange, the Transport Department transferred 7.72 acres of land to the Defence Estate Officer, Guwahati Circle, on the same day.
Deputy Solicitor General of India N Mozika told the court that the project would still require environmental clearances from both the state and central governments, which could take some time.
He also informed the court that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation had granted concept and design-level approval for the airport expansion and related works on January 27.
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The AAI will now apply for execution-level approval after submitting the necessary documents.
The division bench comprising Chief Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice W Diengdoh directed the deputy solicitor general to seek instructions from the DGCA regarding the expected timeline for granting execution-level approval.
The court also asked Meghalaya’s Additional Advocate General K Khan to inform it about the timeframe for obtaining environmental clearance from the state government so that the project can move forward.
The matter has been scheduled for further hearing on March 24.
The proposed expansion of Shillong airport has been under discussion for several years as part of efforts to improve air connectivity to Meghalaya.
The project includes extending the runway to allow larger aircraft to operate from the airport and developing additional infrastructure to enhance airport operations.
