Bagdogra airport caught in land hurdle

Pramod Giri, HT, 17 Aug 2016, SILIGURI: Set to achieve the 11 lakh passenger mark this fiscal, Bagdogra airport is caught in a jam. 

A tea company from which the Darjeeling district administration acquired 9.41 acres in 1999 for creating an approach road to the airport has been demanding a compensation of Rs 15 crore. 

Else, the company has demanded the land be returned. Terai Group of Companies which owns eight tea gardens in the Terai, the Dooars and Darjeeling Hills filed a case in Calcutta High Court challenging the compensation package offered by the state government. 

Now the high court, according to Shambu Ghosh, the chief executive officer of Terai Group of Companies, has rejected the land acquisition proceedings of 1999. 

Though the government took physical possession of the land and handed it over to Airport Authority of India (AAI) in 1999, the compensation package was challenged and not accepted. 

Meanwhile, AAI has already constructed the only approach road to the airport from the National Highway by uprooting the tea bushes and shed trees. 

Though the state government has already started negotiation with the company and hopes to reach a solution soon, the functioning of the airport would come to a grinding halt in case the company’s land is returned by the state government. 

As per today’s market value, the company wants Rs 15 crore as compensation.