Bagdogra last night landing hurdle

TT, Siliguri, Sept. 14: The government today handed over cheques to the final lot of landowners who have given plots for the Bagdogra airport night-landing project, clearing the last bottleneck.

The cheques were handed over by north Bengal development minister Rabindranath Ghosh to 34 landowners who were cumulatively given Rs 1.83 crore.

The event was held at Uttarkanya, the government secretariat in Siliguri.

The land will be used by the Airport Authority of India to install a night-landing mechanism called Instrument Landing System (ILS) at Bagdogra.

Rakesh Sahay, the director of the airport who was present at the event, said they will start the installation of the ILS as soon as the land is handed over to them. The work of installation is likely to be completed by the end of this year, he said.

"We have requested the families of those who were residing in the adjacent areas of Bagdogra to shift as the land is required for the modernisation of the airport. Finally, they have agreed to shift and today we have distributed cheques of Rs 1.83 crore among 34 people.... Our department is spending total Rs 2.41 crore in this regard," minister Ghosh said.

According to the minister, the compensation given was at the rate of Rs 3 lakh a cottah. The land will be handed over to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) by end of this month.

"Once this facility will be introduced at the airport, several tourists who visit the region every year will be benefited and it will improve the connectivity of north Bengal with the rest of the country here," the minister said.