Mizoram’s influential NGO Coordination Committee (NGOCC), an apex body of major civil society organisations, has requested Chief Minister Lalduhoma not to hand over the Lengpui airport, the state’s lone airport, in Aizawl to the Indian Air Force (IAF).
The NGOCC is headed by the powerful Young Mizo Association (YMA), which has an impact on major issues in the Christian-dominated state.
As a delegation of the NGOCC met the Chief Minister and urged him not to hand over the airport to the IAF, Lalduhoma told them that the state government is keen to operate on its own and maintain the airport, 30 km from Aizawl, but is facing a severe financial crisis. He also informed that the state government would seek funding from the 6th Finance Commission to modernise the airport, and improve its runway and other infrastructure.
The Finance Commission, headed by its Chairman Arvind Panagariya, would soon visit Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister’s Economic Adviser T.B.C. Lalvenchhunga said that the state government is yet to take the final decision to hand over the Lengpui Airport to the IAF.
A draft Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) for handing over the Lengpui airport is yet to be finalised, he said.
Various reports have suggested that the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) government headed by Chief Minister Lalduhoma is reportedly considering handing over the airport to IAF or any other organisation for its modernisation.
YMA’s General Secretary Malsawmliana earlier said that the Lengpui Airport is a heritage place and such an iconic infrastructure should not be handed over to the IAF. He said that the NGOCC had earlier passed a resolution on August 9 last year opposing the reported proposal of the state government to transfer the airport to IAF.
The main opposition parties – Congress and Mizo National Front (MNF), both which governed the state for several years, and many other local organisations also have been opposing the government’s move to hand over the airport to IAF or any other organisation.
The Lengpui Airport has various flights to Guwahati, Kolkata, and New Delhi. According to state government officials, on average, the daily passenger movement is around 700 arrivals and departures.
The Mizoram Civil Aviation Department has earned over Rs 13.44 crore from Lengpui airport in the past 10 months of the 2024-2025 financial year. However, the state government cited “huge financial loss” in operating the airport and that’s why it is willing to hand over the airport to IAF or any other organisation.
In view of the ongoing ethnic strife in neighbouring Manipur, a large number of travellers of that state prefer Lengpui Airport, instead of Imphal Airport, due to security considerations to go to other parts of the country. The opposition to the state government’s move has been intensifying, with growing pressure from various quarters.
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