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For the expansion of Kangra airport, the Himachal Pradesh state government is going to acquire 122 hectares of private land spread over 14 villages in Kangra and Shahpur sub-divisions of Kangra district. The state government has already examined recommendations by a social impact assessment (SIA) report and an expert group and found that the public purpose outweighed social impact and decided to acquire the land.
In the last few years, the existing airport has been expanded as much as possible. Now, however, the state government has decided to expand the airport by acquiring more land.
The plan is to acquire land in Baag, Balla, Barswalkad, Bhedi, Dhugiari Khas, Gaggal Khas, Jhikli Ichhi, Mungrehar, Sahoura and Sanour in Kangra tehsil; and Rachhiyalu, Jugehar, Keori and Bhadot of Shahpur tehsil.
The Noida International Airport (NIA) is being developed in four phases and is billed to be the largest in India upon completion. When completed, in the mid-2040s, the airport will be spread over an area of around 5,000 hectares, with multiple runways along with two terminal buildings and an annual passenger capacity of 1.2 crore.
The Himachal Pradesh cabinet on June 19 decided to go ahead with the land acquisition. After the expansion, the length of the runway would be extended to 3,010 metres, enabling the operation of A-320 type of aircraft and help the government develop Kangra as the tourism capital of the state.Principal secretary (tourism and civil aviation) Devesh Kumar, in a gazette notification, said the SIA was carried out through an independent agency as required under Rule 3 of Himachal Pradesh Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Social Impact Assessment and Consent) Rules, 2015.
The agency submitted its report on May 3 this year and it was circulated to the public through gram panchayats, the offices of district collector, the sub-divisional magistrate, and the tehsils. It was also uploaded on the website of the department.
Public hearings were also conducted for SIA. The objections and comments of affected families were recorded and attached to the report after redressing the same.
He said a multi-disciplinary expert group was formed under Section 7 of the Act on April 19 to examine the SIA report and submit its analysis of it. He said the group had examined the SIA and recommended acquisition of land for public purpose on June 5.
The notification said the divisional commissioner, Kangra, at Dharamshala is appointed as commissioner under Section 44 and additional district magistrate, Kangra, at Dharamshala as administrator under sections 3 (a) and 43 of the act, while the sub-divisional officer, Kangra, had been appointed as collector under Section 3(g) of the act in view of the proposed land acquisition.
It added that all persons interested in the land had been notified not to obstruct and disturb any surveyor or other staff to enter upon and survey the land.
The collector has been authorised to take necessary steps to enter upon, conduct survey of land, take levels of any land, dig or bore into the subsoil and do all other acts required for the proper execution of work, it said.
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