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Mosque inside Kolkata airport draws safety questions amid long-running dispute
The issue resurfaced after West Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya raised questions and the Civil Aviation Ministry’s response became public.
A mosque inside Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport has once again become a point of debate. The structure stands less than 300 meters from the secondary runway and has long been flagged as a safety concern.
The issue resurfaced after West Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya raised questions and the Civil Aviation Ministry’s reply became public.
Both acknowledged that the mosque sits close to the secondary runway.
Bhattacharya asked whether it “whether it is a fact that the mosque located within the operational area of Kolkata airport, adjacent to the secondary runway, continues to obstruct the safe extension and full utilisation of that runway."
He also asked the “reason for not initiating removal or relocation of the mosque despite repeated notices and safety concerns”.
Bhattacharya also questioned the delay in demolishing old terminal buildings and sought revised timelines for the proposed new terminal.
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What was the Civil Aviation Ministry’s response?
The Minister of State, Murlidhar Mohol, said the primary runway is used for all regular operations, while the secondary runway comes into play only when the main one is unavailable.
“A mosque is situated in the approach area of secondary runway which displaces the northern side threshold by 88 m,” the response added.
On the terminal project, the Airports Authority of India is still waiting for BCAS security clearances before demolishing the old structures. Project timelines depend entirely on these approvals, it added.
More on the controversy
The matter escalated further after BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya wrote on X: “BJP Bengal State President Samik Bhattacharya raised a crucial question in the Rajya Sabha about the Mosque inside the operational area of Kolkata Airport and the government has now officially confirmed the obstruction.”
“The Ministry of Civil Aviation has admitted that a mosque is situated near the secondary runway. It obstructs safe operations, displacing the runway threshold by 88 metres," Malviya stated on X.
“This affects runway utilisation during urgent situations when the primary runway is unavailable. Passenger safety cannot be sacrificed by appeasement politics. Mamata Banerjee must know that.”
Earlier this year, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari also raised concerns.
“What is happening at Kolkata Airport is a matter of great concern from a security perspective. Prayers are being performed on the ground. The boundary of Kolkata Airport is not being sealed...” he said. On expansion delays, he added, “The reason given is the relocation of the mosque to the second runway. This cannot go on...”
Why is the mosque inside the airport?
The mosque’s presence inside the airport traces back over a century.
Known as the “Bankra mosque,” it predates the airport and has existed since the 1890s.
At the time, the area that now hosts the secondary runway was a village, and the mosque was part of that settlement, according to an India Today report.
When the British set up an aerodrome in 1924, the surrounding villages, including the one with the mosque, remained.
As the airport expanded in the 1950s and 1960s, villages to the north and west of the main runway were cleared and residents moved across Jessore Road to what is now Madhyamgram. When the state acquired the land in 1962 and transferred it to AAI, the mosque appears to have been protected as part of an understanding at the time, the report added.
It is recorded in the airport’s land deed, a worshipper told The Times of India in 2019.
Controversy around the mosque
In 2003, after a meeting between Union Civil Aviation Minister Shahnawaz Hussain and then Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, authorities chose to divert the runway rather than remove the structure, according to a Times of India report from 2003.
The report noted that the mosque blocked runway extension and construction of a connecting taxiway. It also recorded regular footfall of 50–60 worshippers daily, 200–250 on Fridays, and higher numbers during Ramzan.
Recent attempts by AAI and political leaders to shift the mosque have faced resistance from its committee. In 2019, AAI proposed a tunnel from Jessore Road to free up surface land for a taxi track, but it did not get security clearance.
In 2023, AAI introduced a bus service for devotees to access the mosque via a 225-metre route that overlaps with a taxiway leading to the primary runway, adding operational complexity during rush hours.
