Ball set rolling for Gaggal airport expansion

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, July 13

The ball has been set rolling for the expansion of the Gaggal airport in Kangra district. The government has issued a notification under Section 11 of the Land Acquisition Act. With this notification, the sale and purchase of the land identified for the airport expansion will be legally barred. The notification also implies that the government will soon acquire the land required for the project.

CM pursuing matter actively

• The Chief Minister has been actively pursuing the project of expansion of Gaggal airport.
• In the budget, the government has kept a provision of Rs 2,000 crore for the expansion.
• An amount of Rs 400 crore was sanctioned by the Central finance commission during the stint of the previous Jai Ram Thakur government.

The government has notified the acquisition of 105 acres. This includes about 65 acres of private land and about 40 acres of government land. The private land, as per the notification, would be acquired in Bagh, Balla, Dukhiyari Khas, Bhedi, Gaggal Khas, Chikli Icchi, Muggardadh, Sohara, Sannor, Rachyal, Jugehar, Badol and Kiyori villages.

The expansion of the Gaggal airport located in Kangra district had been given a push by the present Congress government. In the state budget, the government has kept a provision of Rs 2,000 crore for the expansion of the airport. Most of the budgeted amount is likely to go into compensating people who would be uprooted after their land is acquired for the expansion.

The locals whose land is to be acquired have been opposing the project. However, the expert committee formed by the state government for assessing the social impact of the Gaggal airport expansion project, in its report, has stated that benefits of project overweigh the social impact on people who would be uprooted.

An amount of Rs 400 crores was sanctioned by the Central finance commission for expansion of the airport during the stint of the previous BJP government. The expansion of Gaggal airport was a major demand of the tourism industry of the area.

The Gaggal airport is proposed to be expanded in two phases. Sources revealed that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has decided to expand the Gaggal airport in first phase from current length of 1,372 metres to 1,900 metres in the first phase. In the second phase the length is proposed to be increased from 1,900 metres to 3,110 metres.