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Our Correspondent
Kohima, Feb. 10 (EMN): Minister for Transport, Civil Aviation and Railways P Paiwang Konyak informed that 465.2 acres of land have been acquired for the Chiethu airport project at the cost of INR 8.65 crore.
He was replying to a starred question raised by NPF legislator Ngangshi K Ao on Monday during the ongoing Nagaland Legislative Assembly session.
Asked if technical feasibility report has been obtained from the Airports Authority of India/Civil Aviation, Konyak replied that the state government has floated a Tender inviting Airports Authority of India’s empanelled consultant for preparation of Detail Project Report (DPR). It is expected to be finalised shortly, he added.
Konyak also said that in line with the national policy of having airports in every state capital, the state government is pursuing with the government of India for the construction of an airport at Chiethu for Kohima.
When questioned if there is an alternative site for the airport, he said that an aerial survey has been conducted at Razephema but issues concerning acquisition of land remain. He informed that the “residents were demanding INR 50 per sq km…roughly the total amount comes to over INR 108 crore, which is a big amount”.
Some from the opposition bench suggested that since the Dimapur airport “has no scope for expansion”, the aim should be to build the new “international airport”.
Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said that Chiethu was initially chosen because every state capital is entitled to have an airport. He reasoned that the issue was not about building an airport in Kohima or Razephema but making use of the opportunity when provided.
According to him, the proposed airport at Chiethu has a feasibility of 4.4 km runway while the Dimapur airport has a runway of only 2.24 km.