The Meghalaya government informed the Meghalaya High Court on Thursday that land required for the expansion of Shillong Airport has been handed over to the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The disclosure came during the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), where the state submitted an Action Taken Report detailing the transfer of land and the progress of the long-pending airport expansion project.
According to the report placed before the court, around 22 acres of land were initially transferred by the state government to the Transport Department on January 28, after which the department handed it over to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on March 6.
The report further stated that 10.30 acres of defence land, also required for the airport expansion, were transferred to the Transport Department on February 27 pursuant to a memorandum of understanding. This land too was subsequently handed over to the AAI on March 6, free from encumbrances.
In exchange for the defence land, the Transport Department provided 7.72 acres of land to the Defence Estate Officer, Guwahati Circle, on the same day.
During the hearing, Deputy Solicitor General of India Dr N Mozika told the court that the project would require time to obtain environmental clearances from both the state and central governments.
He also informed the bench that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had already granted concept and design-level approval for the expansion of Shillong Airport and related works on January 27. He added that the AAI would soon seek execution-level approval from the DGCA after submitting the necessary documents.
A 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 the bench about the expected timeline for obtaining environmental clearance from the state authorities so that the project can move forward.
The matter is scheduled to be heard next on March 24.
The proposed expansion of Shillong Airport has been under discussion for several years as part of efforts to strengthen air connectivity to Meghalaya. The project aims to extend the runway to allow larger aircraft to operate from the airport, along with developing supporting infrastructure to improve overall airport operations.
