SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh government is yet to hand over 369.82 acre of additional land requested by the central government for the extension of Gaggal airport in Kangra district.
Sharing this information in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Union minister of state for civil aviation Murlidhar Mohol said that as per the National Civil Aviation Policy, 2016, the responsibility for providing land for airport development, free of cost and free from all encumbrances, lies with the respective state government.
Responding to a question by BJP’s Rajya Sabha member from Himachal Pradesh, Sikander Kumar, the Union minister added that a proposal prepared by the Airports Authority of India(AAI) to extend the runway at Gaggal airport to a total length of 3,010 meters is still under consideration by the Himachal Pradesh govt.
The ministry of civil aviation had launched the regional connectivity scheme — UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) on Oct 21, 2016, to stimulate regional air connectivity and make air travel affordable to the masses. The airports at Shimla and Kullu and the heliports at Rampur and Mandi in Himachal Pradesh have already been operationalised under the UDAN scheme, informed the Union minister.
As the Rajya Sabha member has sought to know whether the govt has taken any steps to make a significant move to boost local economy to increase economic growth in the hill state, the Union minister replied that the development of airports allows creation of direct and indirect jobs by generating employment for skilled, semi skilled workforce along with providing opportunities for technical experts for construction work.
The existing runway length of the Kangra Airport at Gaggal is 1,376 meters and under the expansion plan, it is proposed to be extended upto 3,010 meters to accommodate larger body aircrafts. The state government is in the process of land acquisition from 14 revenue villages across eight panchayats in Kangra district.
Aggrieved by the land acquisition process, the Gaggal Airport Expansion Affected Social Welfare Committee had approached the Himachal Pradesh high court in October 2023 and the case is still pending in the court.
The high court during the case’s recent hearing last week noticed from the state government’s reply that the necessary permission pertaining to the diversion of forest land is yet to be accorded by the central government and the proposal for expansion of this airport is pending with the project screening committee.
The court also noticed that the techno-economic feasibility report, which is a prerequisite task for environment related services, is yet to be received and it is only after receipt of this report that the central government can proceed to grant permission for any forest clearance.
