E-Paper
Kangra airport expansion: Public administration institute to conduct social impact assessment
The study would be completed within a month, said Kangra deputy commissioner Nipun Jindal; added that Kangra administration will coordinate and support HIPA in conducting the social impact assessment so as the study could be completed within the given deadline
Accelerating the process of Kangra airport’s expansion, the Himachal Pradesh government has entrusted responsibility to carry out the social impact assessment (ISA) of the project to Himachal Institute of Public Administration (HIPA).
The study would be completed within a month, said Kangra deputy commissioner Nipun Jindal. He said Kangra administration will coordinate and support HIPA in conducting the ISA so as the study could be completed within the given deadline.
Simultaneously, the revenue department has been directed to conduct the survey for land acquisition. He said due to extension of airstrip of the Kangra airport, national highway 154 also needed to be realigned for which inspection of new route was done by him and the project director of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) on Friday.
The expansion project envisages increasing the runway length of Kangra airport from existing 1,372 metres to 3,010 metres.
Presently, due to shorter runway, only 72-seater aircraft can land on the airstrip. Also, airlines here operate flights on load penalty, which means they run at least 10%-15% less than their full capacity of passengers, fuel and cargo, eventually resulting in higher airfares.
Once the airstrip is extended, bigger aircraft like Airbus 320 could land here which would not only boost the valley’s connectivity to the other parts of the country, but also bring down the travel cost on this route.
Jindal said the airport extension will be done in two phases. In the first phase, the runway length would be increased to 1,900 metres and then to 3,010 metres in the next phase.
The project would affect more than 1,200 families of over a dozen villages in two assembly segments of Shahpur and Kangra. The Gaggal Bazaar will also be displaced completely.
A total of 147 hectares of land are to be acquired in Kangra and Shahpur subdivisions for the airport extension of which, 122 hectares of land are private while 25 hectares belong to the government. The land to be acquired comes under Kangra and Shahpur subdivisions. Spread over 1,269 acres, Kangra airport is located at an altitude of 2,492 feet above the sea level. The foundation stone of the airport was laid in 1986, while the first flight operated in 1990. Its runway length was increased from 910 metres to 1,372 metres in 2007.
Airport’s apron provides parking space for two turboprop aircraft, like ATR 72, while its terminal building can handle 100 passengers.
