High Court asks Meghalaya govt to hand over lands free of cost & from encumbrance for Airport development

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaJuly 30, 2024

The High Court of Meghalaya directed the Meghalaya Government to coordinate with the Central Government for exploring possibilities of expansion of Shillong Airport, which will fetch income to the State and beneficial to citizens.

The direction was passed during the hearing of PIL no 4 of 2021 on Monday.

The Court observed that the tourism industry plays a vital role in generation of income to the State of Meghalaya and according to a report, the tourism industry of this State is expected to grow to INR 12,000 Crores with an annual footfall of visitors of 20 lakhs by 2028.

The Court noted that to achieve this target, it is absolutely necessary to improve all modes of transportation, especially by air, as Air travel is a preferred mode of transportation for certain tourists in order to minimize the time of their journey. Insofar as Meghalaya is concerned, reaching it via air is more comfortable than by road, as the State is dependent on only these two in view of the fact that Meghalaya, being a Hill Station, there are no train routes started by the Governments so far.

Though Meghalaya has several tourist spots to visit, it has only one Airport with the name “Umroi” at Shillong with the operation of small aircrafts like ATR-72, Q-400, etc., that too, those are operational, depending upon the climatic situation prevalent therein.  To add fuel, there is no direct flight to Shillong, as the passengers are made to wait for 2½ to 3 hours at the Kolkata Airport to catch the connecting flights with limited passengers to fly to Shillong.

It is pertinent to mention here that the aviation industry is one of the main sources of fetching income to a State, besides providing ample job opportunities to youngsters. Of late, many businessmen choose a State’s air transportation system as their access to markets, as it is roughly estimated that these airports employ more than 15,600 people throughout the State.

The Court said that to develop an Aerodrome of a State and its infrastructures, the mechanism of joint venture between State and Central Governments is highly imperative to reach its goal, as it is incumbent on the part of the State Government to hand over the required land for development of airports free of cost and free from all encumbrances and the successful implementation of joint venture programmes to improve Airports at Vizag, Khajuraaho, Amritsar, Pathankot, Dehradun, Lucknow, Varanasi are few examples, where respective State Governments had given lands free of cost.