DIMAPUR, Aug 8 - A seven-member team of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has arrived in Kohima to study the feasibility of a greenfield airport at Ciethu, 20 km from the State capital.
Before leaving for Ciethu on Wednesday, Nagaland Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation Paiwang Konyak told media persons that the Central team would examine the feasibility of setting up the airport. He said it would conduct the survey in a span of five to ten days together with officials from the State Transport Department.
Konyak said around 350 acres of land have been purchased for the project, which is likely to cost Rs 645 crore. He hoped the Centre would approve of the latest survey report by the AAI and the DGCA.
The survey for the ambitious Ciethu greenfield airport was first conducted in 2006, but it became invalid as the survey report was reportedly �incomprehensive�.
Konyak said the project would finally take shape with the help of the Centre and the State Government.
The Central officials said that the airport was expected be operational by 2021 if everything went according to plan. The team will submit its report to the Centre in the next 10 days, they said.
AAI Joint General Manager SD Tiwari, who is heading the team, said they would carry out a fresh survey at the airport site as the earlier report had been �nullified�.
�The State Government�s survey by its own team has relevant information. We will submit both the reports to the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation for consideration,� he added. Once the project gets the Centre�s approval, Nagaland will have a second aerodrome close to the State capital. At present the State has one airport in Dimapur.
