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Kangra airport expansion: HP govt extends deadline for land acquisition
According to a notification issued by HP’s Department of Tourism and Civil Aviation, the publication of declaration and summary of Rehabilitation and Resettlement under section 19 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, can now be completed by October 13.
The Himachal Pradesh (HP) government has extended the deadline for the land acquisition for the expansion project of Kangra airport at Gaggal in Kangra district.
According to a notification issued by HP’s Department of Tourism and Civil Aviation, the publication of declaration and summary of Rehabilitation and Resettlement under section 19 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, can now be completed by October 13.
The preliminary notification for the expansion of the Kangra airport was issued last year on July 7 under section 11 of the Act. According to the Act, it is necessary to have completed the process given under section 19, within a period of one year. While preliminary notification is about the intent of land acquisition, the notification under section 19 is the final declaration of the land acquisition by the state government, that time limit had lapsed on July 10 this year.
The notification issued by the Tourism and Civil Aviation department stated, “The declaration could not be issued within the prescribed time limit as the acquisition of the land was held up by the Department from January 9, 2024, to 22 (13 days) on account of stay order passed by the high court. Further, due to imposition of the Model Code of Conduct in view of Lok Sabha election, this acquisition was again held up from March 16, 2024, to June 6, 2024 (83 days). The total period when the acquisition work remained held up to 96 days.”
“Therefore, in the light of the stated facts and circumstances and also keeping in view the provisions contained in the sub-section (7) of the section 19 of the Act ibid, the governor, Himachal Pradesh, is pleased to extend the period for the publication of the declaration and summary of rehabilitation & resettlement as per the requirement of the provisions contained under sub-section (2) of section 19 of the Act ibid by 96 days from July 10, 2024 to October 13, 2024,” it said.
The proposed expansion of the airport, which has been opposed by the local population, would displace hundreds of families. At least 1,500 households in 14 villages would be affected by the proposed expansion, according to the estimates.
Earlier, the Kangra tourism department in its submission to the collector deemed objections raised by the members of the Gaggal Airport Expansion Affected Society Welfare Committee against the proposed expansion of Kangra airport as untenable.
The project aims to increase the runway length of Kangra airport from the existing 1,372 metres to 3,110 metres. The proposed expansion would require a total of 140 hectares and would mean the displacement of almost all Gaggal township which is located approximately 2 km from the airport, according to the HP government’s social impact assessment (SIA) report released in May 2023.
