Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to expedite the transfer of 18.8 acres of land still occupied by Assam Rifles, which is holding up the Phase-I expansion of Dimapur Airport. Despite alternate land being provided at Shokhuvi in Chumoukedima district—where a new training centre and school are fully operational—the Assam Rifles have yet to vacate the site, delaying key airport infrastructure work.

The Dimapur Airport project is being developed under a phased master plan by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). While the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has already vacated 8.4 acres to support the expansion, the untransferred land under Assam Rifles remains a critical bottleneck.

In his letter to the Home Minister, CM Rio highlighted operational and safety concerns due to space constraints and noted that multiple representations to resolve the issue have not yielded results. He emphasised that since Assam Rifles is already accommodated at Shokhuvi, retaining the old land serves no practical purpose.

A high-level meeting chaired by Abhijit Sinha, Additional Secretary (Police II), Ministry of Home Affairs, was held in New Delhi on 1 July to discuss the issue. The meeting followed sustained efforts by the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary J. Alam, who reiterated the state’s position in a separate communication to the Union Home Secretary.

According to Alam, Assam Rifles has shown readiness to vacate the land upon receiving directives from the Ministry of Home Affairs, but insists on structural compensation. The state maintains that, since the transfer is between two Central agencies—Assam Rifles and AAI—no compensation is required, and the land should be handed over on an “as-is-where-is” basis.

Dimapur Airport is Nagaland’s only airport and serves nearby regions of Assam and Manipur within a 100-kilometre radius. Despite its growing strategic and economic importance, further expansion has remained stalled due to unresolved land issues.

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