Efforts are being made to remove the 136 year old mosque located inside Kolkata Airport due to security reasons. Its close proximity to the runway hinders flight operations. Talks are going on between the administration and the mosque committee to shift it.
Kolkata: Amid claims of changing political atmosphere in West Bengal, efforts have intensified to remove the decades-old mosque built inside the highly sensitive operational area of Kolkata International Airport. Last Tuesday, a team of senior officials from the district administration and Airport Authority of India (AAI) inspected the site of the mosque. After this, an important meeting was held on Wednesday between the state administration and representatives of the Mosque Committee. In this meeting, citing the security of the airport, emphasis was given to shift the mosque somewhere else.
This 136 year old ‘Gauripur Jame Masjid’ (also known as Bankra Masjid) once stood in a vast deserted area. But due to the continuous expansion of the airport, today it has come to a sensitive area deep inside the runway.
Big threat to the safety of flights
In the meeting held at the District Magistrate (DM) office of North 24 Parganas, the airport officials explained through the map how serious challenges and technical problems are being posed to the security of flights due to the presence of the mosque. Former MLA Siddiqullah Chaudhary, who attended the meeting on behalf of the Mosque Committee, said, “We cannot take a decision on this alone. You should contact big Muslim organizations.”
Regarding this, airport director Vikram Singh said, “This mosque inside the airport is a long-running controversial issue. We have informed the government several times about the problems it is causing in the operation of flights. Another long discussion took place on Wednesday and we hope that a positive result will come soon.”
30 year old dispute; From Jyoti Basu to Mamata Banerjee had protested!
This small mosque is just 165 meters north of the airport’s second (secondary) runway and just 150 meters inside the airport’s boundary wall. Whereas according to international rules, there should be a distance of at least 240 meters between the runway and any building. This rule is clearly being violated here.
Earlier also the Union Civil Aviation Ministry had made several attempts to shift the mosque. But the then governments of Jyoti Basu, Buddhadev Bhattacharya (CPM) and Mamata Banerjee (TMC) rejected these efforts due to political reasons. However, according to the source story, now with the BJP government in the Center and West Bengal and the current Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari showing interest in this matter, the officials are very hopeful about the shifting of the mosque this time. Suvendu Adhikari has recently expressed concern over the security of the airport and has asked for the immediate removal of the mosque.
Big planes can’t land; Difficult even in emergency landing!
The mosque is right in the middle of the approach path from where the planes land. For safety, the touchdown point of the secondary runway (where the wheel of the aircraft first touches the ground) has been moved forward by 88 metres. Due to this, the total length of the runway has reduced to only 2,832 meters. This length is enough for small aircraft like Airbus A320 and Boeing 737.
But, this runway becomes small for the operation of large i.e. wide-body aircraft like Boeing 787 (B787) and Airbus A330 (A330). This mosque becomes a big danger during emergency landing.
In winter, when the main runway is closed due to dense fog, the use of this secondary runway becomes difficult. Advanced Instrument Landing System (ILS) is installed on the main runway, due to which aircraft can land even in low visibility. But because of the mosque, this high-tech system could not be installed on the secondary runway.
Namazis go by bus after CISF checking
Currently, 10 to 25 local Muslims come here for prayers five times a day. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) conducts a strict search of them at the Jessore Road gate. After this, they are taken to the mosque by crossing the runway in a special bus and after the namaz, they are dropped back to the gate by bus. This number reaches 80 on Friday at the time of Friday prayers.
Abul Kalam, member of the mosque committee, said, “Only the local people of Bankra village are allowed to offer namaz here. No one from outside comes. We have been giving full cooperation to the security forces for decades and we have no objection on showing the ID card. But the major decision of shifting the mosque is not in our hands. We do not want a conflict with the government. We have told the authorities to consult Madrasa Darul Uloom Deoband, Muslim Personal Law Board and Jamiat about this.” Talk to organizations like Ulema-e-Hind.”