State govt aligns with Centre, plan to shift mosque out of airport gets renewed push

KOLKATA: Fresh efforts to shift the mosque next to the secondary runway at Kolkata airport have gained momentum following the change in the state govt.

An inspection of the mosque was carried out on Tuesday, followed by a meeting between the state administration and mosque representatives on Wednesday to press for the relocation of the mosque that is situated deep inside the airport operational area.

A team comprising officials from the district administration and Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Tuesday visited the 136-year-old Gouripur Jame Masjid, also known as Bankra mosque, that was once situated in a vast barren land but now finds itself deep inside the airport.

At the meeting that followed at the North 24 Parganas DM's office on Wednesday, airport officials explained the need to shift the mosque, citing safety, security concerns and flight operation constraints. The mosque representatives, led by former MLA Siddiqullah Chowdhury, have referred the authorities to Muslim umbrella organisations, stating that they are incapable of deciding on the issue.

"The presence of this mosque inside the airport premises has been an issue of contention for long, and time and again we have highlighted problems in flight operations because of it. We had another round of discussion on Wednesday and are now awaiting a positive response," said airport director Vikram Singh.

The modest mosque sits 165 m north of the secondary runway and around 150 m inside the boundary wall and has been a bone of contention for over three decades. The minimum distance required for any building from the runway is 240 m. Past efforts by the civil aviation ministry were shot down by the Jyoti Basu, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and Mamata Banerjee govts. But with BJP now in office at the Centre as well as the state, airport officials are hopeful of a positive outcome. Current CM Suvendu Adhikari has in recent times flagged concerns about the presence of the mosque in the airport operational area and called for its relocation.

"Since the mosque sits within the approach path of flights, the secondary runway's touchdown point was shifted southward by 88 m. While the remaining 2,832 m of runway are adequate for narrow-body aircraft like Airbus A320 and Boeing 737, it is not enough to operate wide-body aircraft like B787 and A330. The mosque is also a potential safety hazard during emergency landings," an airport official said.

Operating flights when the primary runway isn't available on foggy winter days is also a challenge. The 3,633-m primary runway is equipped with advanced instrument landing systems that allow flight operations in low visibility, but it is not possible to install the equipment on the secondary runway due to the mosque's presence.

At present, around 10-25 devotees offer namaz at the mosque five times- a- day, with CISF frisking them at the gate on Jessore Road before they are bussed to the mosque and back. During Friday prayers, the devotee count goes up to around 80.

"Only locals from Bankra pray at the mosque. Others are not allowed. We have always cooperated with the authorities and have not objected to being frisked or producing ID cards to enter the sensitive area. But taking a decision on shifting the mosque is beyond our purview. We do not want to get into a confrontation with authorities and have told them that they speak to Madrasa Darul Uloom Deoband, Muslim Personal Law Board and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind to arrive at a decision," said mosque committee member Abul Kalam.