Nagaland: Kohima Ready for Greenfield Airport

KOHIMA: A rare dose of good news awaits Kohima. The much-awaited 'greenfield' airport might soon get the formal approval from the Centre. The work is ready to start as soon as the green signal comes from the Centre.

This was what the state civil aviation minister P Paiwang Konyak said in the state assembly.

In his reply to a question on the floor of the House, he said that the Union cabinet won't take much time to sanction the fund once the project is approved. But the state is fully prepared to start the project as the government had already procured a plot of land measuring 1013.72 acres, back in 2006.

According to the minister, the detailed project report prepared in 2010 won't be of any help as on date. Initially, nobody turned up to prepare DPR after the government issued an advertisement for the purpose.

He said that the government requested the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to prepare two DPRs and, accordingly, both the DPRs were completed.

He said that one was for a runway with a length of 2,200 metres at 1,434 ft Above Mean Sea Level (AMSL) estimated at Rs 5,695 crore, which can fly ATR 72 with load restriction and A-320 Airbus with load restriction.

The second DPR was for a runway, with length of 2,750 metres at 1,412 ft AMS which can fly ATR 72 without load restriction and A-320 Airbus without load restriction, estimated at Rs 8,890 crore, he said.

No Objection Certificate has been received from the Defence ministry. The procured plot in Kohima was also ready to be transferred to the AAI.

In 2019, DoNER ministry agreed to partially fund Rs 6,000-crore for the proposed project. This was what the then DoNER minister Jitendra Singh convened to Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio.

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