AIZAWL: Mizoram’s main opposition party, Mizo National Front (MNF) on Wednesday slammed the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) government headed by chief minister Lalduhoma for its plan to allegedly hand over Lengpui airport, the state-owned airport, to India Air Force (IAF) in the absence of an agreement which is accepted for both the parties.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference here, MNF publicity board vice chairman J Malsawmzuala Vanchhawng said that ever since it came to power in December last year, the ZPM government has been planning to hand over the airport to IAF or private companies for further development and management.
The meeting of council of minister on December 14, 2023 had decided to hand over Lengpui airport to other agencies and a working committee constituted to find ways and means of handing over the airport to other agencies has recently submitted its report suggesting the handing over of the airport to IAF, Vanchhawng said.
He said that the MNFis strongly opposed to the plan as Lengpui airport, which is a permanent asset of the state and remained in operational for more than 25 years, unless an agreement is signed which is acceptable for both the Mizo people and the IAF.
He said that the airport was established by previous governments despite several challenges and has been effectively used by the public since then.
“The unilateral decision of the present government to hand over Lengpui airport, which is an asset of the state established by previous governments in spite of several challenges, to the IAF is nothing but an insult to the people of the state,” Vanchhawng said.
He, however, said that the MNF was not opposed to handing over the airport to either IAF or private companies if an agreement is reached which is acceptable for both the people of Mizoram and the agency.
Vanchhawng said that the Mizo people will face several problems in travelling if the Lengpui airport is handed over to the IAF, which is expected to give priority to security against the interest of the public, which is connectivity.
Looking at the condition of some airports in neighbouring Assam’s Silchar, Tezpur , Jorhat towns and other parts of the country being managed by IAF, it is not desirable to hand over the lone airport to the air force, he said.
Vanchhawng claimed that Lenpui airport has performed far better than some airports managed by IAF in terms of commuters.
He said that the airport currently hosts 1,000 to 1,500 outgoing and incoming passengers on a daily basis.
He further said that the airport also performed well in terms of generating revenue as its revenue increased from Rs. 3 crore in 2021-22 to Rs. 6 crore in 2022-23, which further rose to Rs. 9,.96 core in 2023-24, he said.