Shillong, Jun 17: The Meghalaya High Court has asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to expedite the process and ensure that a requisite report into the expansion of Umroi Airport be processed by the end of the month.
A bench of the court, comprising Chief Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh, heard the public interest litigation (PIL) today.
The High Court had last heard the matter on April 22 where the Deputy Solicitor General of India (DGSI) had submitted that environment clearance has been received from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on March 28 for the expansion of the runway of Umroi Airport and that a work order for expansion of the airport, including runway extension, expansion of terminal building and apron and other allied works has been awarded to KCC Buildcon Pvt Ltd on April 1.
Safety documents were prepared and have been sent to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for vetting before submission to the DGCA.
Today the court was told that the land exchange between the state government and defence authorities has been completed; defence land was required to expand the airport.
However, the DGSI told the court that no instructions have been received from the DGCA regarding the safety assessment. “We are afraid that this delay (of the DGCA) would further delay the project, leading to cost escalation in the project thereby indirectly resulting in the taxpayers having to bear the brunt of the same,” the bench said.
The case will be heard again on June 30.
