Assam govt acquired land at Doloo based on AAI report, but no formal proposal received by ministry so far: Union

July 28: Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi posed 5 questions before the Civil Aviation Minister as regards construction of Airport at Doloo Tea Estate of Cachar district in Assam in the Lok Sabha. The Unstrarred Question No 1939 asked by Assam MP Bordoloi raised the following issues:

(a) whether the Union Government is aware of the Assam State Government’s announcement of the construction of a new airport by clearing the Doloo tea estate and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether the Union Government is aware that such a project would involve uprooting of three million tea plants and loss of livelihood for nearly 2,000 workers and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Union Government has taken cognizance of the protests by tea garden workers of the Doloo tea estate against the proposed airport project and if so, the details thereof;

(d)whether the Government proposes to engage in any form of consultation with these primary stakeholders and if so, the details thereof; and;

(e) whether the Government has received a formal proposal from the State Government of Assam or any airport developer for the construction of the proposed airport in Cachar, Assam as per the Greenfield Airports Policy of 2008 and if so, the details thereof?

In response to this question, Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Gen. Dr VK Singh (Retd) replied on 28 July in Lok Sabha,

(a) On the request of Government of Assam, Airports Authority of India (AAI) had conducted a Pre-Feasibility study in January, 2020 for three sites identified by the State Government for developing a Greenfield airport at Silchar. Out of these, Dolo site was found to be the most suitable one. A Report along with Master Plan indicating land requirement of 870 acres for A-321 type of aircraft operations in all weather conditions has been sent to Government of Assam by AAI. Pursuant to this Report, Government of Assam has acquired land for developing the Greenfield airport at Dolo (Silchar).

(b) & (c): As per the Greenfield Airports Policy, 2008, implementation of a Greenfield Airport Project including site identification, land acquisition, project financing, obtaining necessary clearances etc. is the responsibility of the respective State Government/ Project proponent.

(d ) & (e): Government of India (GoI) has formulated a Greenfield Airports (GFA) Policy, 2008 which provides detailed guidelines, procedures and steps related to construction of Greenfield airports across the country. Under the GFA Policy, the project proponent- an airport developer or the respective State Government willing to establish a Greenfield airport is required to send a proposal to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) in the prescribed format available at www.civilaviation.gov.in for 2-stage process i.e., ‘Site Clearance’ followed by ‘In-Principle’ approval. Based on AAI report, State Government has acquired the land but the Ministry has so far, not received any formal proposal.