Site clearance only first phase of Dolu airport project: Assam Tea Corporation chairman Rajdeep Goala

OUR BUREAU

GUWAHATI/SILCHAR: "The Central Government accords approval to any project only after the State Government completes some initial steps," said BJP leader and Assam Tea Corporation (ATC) chairman Rajdeep Goala with reference to construction of the Greenfield airport at Silchar.

Talking to the media in Silchar on Friday, Goala said that since the airport proposal was yet to be sent to the Civil Aviation Ministry in its prescribed format, so the Ministry informed in a reply to an RTI query that that such a proposal was not available with the Ministry.

He further said that the proposal in its prescribed format can only be sent when the first phase, that is site clearance, is done. Therefore, the State Government carried out an eviction in the Dolu Tea Estate and a Cabinet decision was taken to provide Rs 1 lakh to each evicted family as compensation.

Goala informed that in the second phase the Airports Authority of India (AAI) will have to take possession of the land and only then will the project receive a go-ahead in principle.

According to sources, the then Civil Aviation Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri, had said on February 26, 2019 that: "On recommendation and continuous follow-up by Government of Assam, the Airports Authority of India has conducted a pre-feasibility study for setting up a Greenfield airport under consideration. The AAI will finalize the site in consultation with the State Government."

The sources added that in January, 2020 an AAI team led by Barun Kumar, Joint GM, surveyed two-three sites in Silchar. The State Government finalized Dolu Tea Estate as the site for the Greenfield airport after that stage.

It may be mentioned that Gowala's clarification came in response to a reply given by Amit Kumar Jha, Under Secretary of the Civil Aviation Ministry, to an RTI query.Jha's reply was quoted at a press conference in Silchar on Thursday by the Asom Majuri Shramik Union, which has been steering the labour agitation against the proposed airport at Dolu Tea Estate.

Jha stated in his reply: "In terms of GFA Policy (Greenfield Airport), this Ministry has not received any proposal for construction of a Greenfield airport at Silchar."

Jha further stated the Central Government had formulated a Greenfield Airport Policy in 2008 which provided guidelines, procedure and conditions for establishment of new Greenfield airports in the country. As per the policy an airport developer, including the State Government, willing to establish an airport was requested to send a proposal to the Ministry of Civil Aviation for a 2-stage process - 'Site Clearance' followed by 'In-Principle' approval. But no such proposal was received by the Ministry for construction of a Greenfield airport at Silchar, the letter clearly stated. Jha also stated that the Central Government had accorded 'In-Principle' approval for setting up of 21 Greenfield airports across the country. Out of these 21, there was only one for the North-East - Hollongi at Itanagar. However, there would be another Greenfield airport at Pakyong in Sikkim.

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