Greenfield Airport in Silchar: “3 sites under consideration,” tweets minister; “Expect early decision,” says Rajdeep Roy

Silchar might get a Greenfield airport soon. This was the headline of a Barak Bulletin report on July 26, 2019. Replying to a question asked by Guwahati MP Queen Oja, Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Hardeep Singh Puri, had said in the Parliament that the ministry has granted “In Principle’ approval for setting up a new greenfield airport at Hollongi, Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh whereas for Silchar Airport, AAI has requested the state government to share the land details for conducting ‘pre-feasibility study.”

Since then top officials of the Airport Authority of India visited Silchar and surveyed various spots. A feasibility study was conducted for each spot. Today, the Minister has tweeted again. “On recommendations and continuous follow up by State Govt of Assam; AAI has conducted a pre-feasibility study for setting up Greenfield Airport in Silchar.  3 sites are under consideration. AAI will finalise the best-suited site in consultation with the State Govt,” read the tweet of Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

September last year, Silchar MP Rajdeep Roy went and met Minister Singh where the two discussed several issues related to the Silchar Airport. Since then, the existing airport has improved leaps and bounds, new check-in counters have been installed and more developmental activities are on the way.

MP Roy feels the tweet from the Minister today is a big development. “I am very happy and looking forward to it,” shared Roy while speaking with Barak Bulletin. He added that a Greenfield airport will benefit the locals of the entire Barak Valley.

The technical committee has earmarked three land plots for the construction of Greenfield Airport. One is at Kharail Tea Estate in Dolu, another spot is the Dolu Tea Estate itself and the third spot is Silcoorie Tea Estate. “There is no pressure of any sort from any corner about where it must be built. This is for the technical committee to decide. I expect an early decision on the issue (land allotment) by the Government of Assam,” added MP Rajdeep Roy.

In January 2020, A five-member team visited various locations in Silchar to survey the proposed land to set up a new Greenfield Airport. The team was led by Barun Kumar, joint GM, AAI which had Manjit Singh, Soumen Podder, Sunil Kumar, Rajpal Lawasia, and S Ahmed (State Transport). In August 2019, one of the most experienced officers of Airport Authority of India, executive director, AAI, Sanjeev Jindal visited Silchar.

With this tweet coming just a few hours before the election commission of India declare the polling dates in Assam, it remains to be seen if this is just an election strategy or Silchar is actually about to get the dream Greenfield airport.