Mandi may lose airport project to Hamirpur

Pratibha Chauhan

Shimla, April 12

The setting up of the international airport in Himachal Pradesh once again seems to be getting embroiled in a political controversy with the possibility of it being shifted from Balh in Mandi to Jahu in Hamirpur district being explored.

Political angle

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While former CM Jai Ram Thakur hails from Mandi, CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu is from Hamirpur

The green field airport at Nagchala in the Balh valley of Mandi district was the dream project of former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur (of the BJP) and he wanted set it up in his home district. However, owing to financial constraints, the project did not make much headway in the past five years. The stiff opposition by the local population of the Balh valley also became an issue.

The site at Jahu in Hamirpur has been under consideration for the setting up of the international airport even in the past when the Congress was in power. However, with former CM Jai Ram Thakur hailing from Mandi, preference was given to the Balh site. Now with Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (of the Congress) hailing from Hamirpur, the Jahu site is once again being considered. Even though no final decision has been taken, the possibility of the venue of the much-needed international airport being shifted from Mandi to Hamirpur is being discussed. The basis of this possible shift is the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) report for the airport which has cited several hindrances for the project coming up at Balh in Mandi.

Himachal has three small airports — at Bhuntar near Kullu, Gaggal in Kangra and at Jubbarhati near Shimla. However, shorter runways of these airports prohibit the landing of bigger aircraft, making airfare exorbitantly high. The need for setting up an international airport with a long runway is being felt to facilitate the landing of bigger aircraft, which will go a long way in promoting tourism.

“In view of the opposition by Balh Sangharsh Samiti to the airport in view of huge tracts of fertile land being acquired for the project and the resultant high land compensation cost, the possibility of exploring the Jahu proposal remains open,” said a senior official on the condition of anonymity. The distance from Balh to Jahu is not much and as such the location would not be too different, he added.

Though a technical team of experts will visit both sites again, the argument being given in favour of shifting the venue to Jahu is that the land here is not so fertile. Also, the number of families that will get displaced and will have to be relocated is lesser. As per the detailed project report, the estimated cost for the setting up of the green field airport at Nagchala in the Balh valley of Mandi district was Rs 5,248.48 crore. On August 2, 2022, the state government had urged the Centre to provide a financial assistance of Rs 1,000 crore, which has not yet been accepted.