State readies land for Hasimara civilian airport in three months

 In sharp contrast, the Mamata government had taken seven to eight years to acquire and hand over around 100 acres to the Centre for the expansion of the Bagdogra airport

The air force station at Hasimara in Alipurduar district. : File picture

Anirban Choudhury   |   TT  |  Alipurduar   |   26.10.22 : The Mamata Banerjee government has taken back 34 acres from a tea estate for the infrastructure development at a new civil airport at the Hasimara air force base in Alipurduar district and sent the necessary documents to the Union civil aviation ministry.

The Bengal government took around three months to identify, demarcate and acquire the 34-acre plot of the Satali tea estate located close to the airforce station. In sharp contrast, the Mamata government had taken seven to eight years to acquire and hand over around 100 acres to the Centre for the expansion of the Bagdogra airport.

In July, Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had written to Alipurduar MP and Union minister of state for minority affairs John Barla, mentioning that the Centre wanted to develop

a civil airport at the Hasimara air force station. Scindia also informed Barla that the ministry had sought land from the state government for the construction of the terminal, administrative block, aprons and parking lot.

“It will be a civil enclave like the Bagdogra airport as there is an existing air force station at Hasimara. Like Bagdogra, the runway and the air traffic control would be taken care of by the Indian Air Force while the remaining facilities would be under the jurisdiction of the Airports Authority of India (AAI),” said a retired official of the AAI.

Once ready, Hasimara, located 40km from here, will have the fourth civilian airport in the state and the second in north Bengal.

The three existing airports are at Calcutta, Andal and Bagdogra which is in north Bengal.   Following the communication from the Centre, the state government had started scouring for the land contiguous to the Hasimara air force station.

“Eventually, a plot measuring 34 acres was identified on the Satali tea estate which is next to the air force station. The plot was taken back by the government and after the completion of all formalities, the land’s papers have been sent to Delhi. The garden land had been leased out by the government,” said a source in the state government.

According to the source, it is one of the rare cases in recent times when the land has been acquired so quickly for a central project. Since 2011, the Mamata government had to face criticism from the Centre and political parties for delaying land acquisition which has led to the late commencement of a number of infrastructure projects, mostly roads.

“It took seven to eight years for the state government to acquire land (around 100 acres) for the expansion of the Bagdogra airport. In March this year, the land was finally handed over to the Centre and the AAI is busy drawing plans for the expansion. It is nice to see that in the case of Hasimara, the state has made a prompt move,” said Surajit Pal, secretary of an apex organisation of trade bodies in north Bengal.

The state had sought money from the Centre to compensate a tea company from which the land had been acquired for the Bagdogra airport’s expansion. The AAI, which was desperately waiting for the land, paid the state Rs 25 crore as the compensation.

While chief minister

Mamata Banerjee was on a tour of north Bengal last week, she referred to the new

civilian airport at Hasimara. She also said her government was putting efforts to  introduce flights from non-functional airports at Balurghat, Malda and Cooch Behar.

The business community in the Alipurduar district welcomed the acquisition of land for the civilian airport at Hasimara. The traders have pointed out that the two nearest airports are at Bagdogra and Rupsi in Dhubri district of the neighbouring Assam. While Bagdogra is located 137km away and Rupsi is 117km from Hasimara.

“Along with Alipurduar and Cooch Behar districts, the Hasimara airport would also help residents of lower Assam and Bhutan. We believe a number of airlines will show interest in operating out of the Hasimara airport. The state has provided the land and now, the Centre should pursue the project,” said Prasenjit Dey, the secretary of the Alipurduar Chamber of Commerce.