Shillong: The long-awaited expansion of the Umroi (Shillong) Airport has hit a bureaucratic roadblock, drawing strong criticism from the Meghalaya High Court over ongoing delays in securing mandatory technical and aviation safety clearances.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice W. Diengdoh pulled up federal civil aviation authorities, warning that stalling the project will inevitably trigger massive cost escalations and force taxpayers to bear the brunt of administrative inefficiency.
The court's sharp observations come at a time when all primary ground hurdles have already been cleared; the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change granted its green nod in late March, and a critical land exchange agreement with defense authorities was recently finalised to free up the military land needed for the runway extension.
Despite these breakthroughs, physical construction has been frozen for over 45 days due to a lack of execution-stage safety clearances required to deploy heavy machinery on the airfield legally.
The contract for the comprehensive upgrade, which includes lengthening the runway to accommodate larger commercial aircraft, expanding the terminal building, and building a new aircraft parking apron, was awarded to M/s KCC Buildcon Pvt. Ltd. under a strict 18-month completion timeline that accounts for the region's intense monsoon seasons.
However, the project cannot proceed while paperwork remains gridlocked. Deputy Solicitor General of India, Dr N. Mozika, informed the bench that the necessary safety assessment documents are still being vetted at the Airports Authority of India (AAI) corporate headquarters before they can even be forwarded to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for final approval.
Demanding immediate accountability, the High Court has directed the central government to fast-track the evaluation process and present a definitive status update at the next scheduled hearing on June 30, 2026.