Kerala govt withdraws approval for new airport

Chief minister launches paddy cultivation in land set apart for Aranmula airportKerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan yesterday sent out a clear message to promoters of India’s first private airport by deciding to restart cultivation in the nearby 56 acres of paddy fields lying unused for the past two decades.The state’s fifth international airport project in the temple town of Aranmula was hanging fire since an earlier government of Vijayan’s Left Democratic Front (LDF) alliance gave in-principle clearance and notified some 2,500 acres as industrial land, practically lifting the ceiling on the landholding.Last month, the government informed the Kerala High Court that it was withdrawing the notification and in-principle clearance to the project, which its opponents say would destroy the environment and defile the nearby Parthasarathy Temple.Vijayan, who also holds the industries portfolio, said he would soon initiate proceedings to de-notify the land the airport company holds as an industrial area. The government is spending Rs15.3mn to restore paddy fields of Aranmula.“We are not against airports and other infrastructure projects. But they should not be at the cost of environment,” Vijayan said after launching cultivation, throwing paddy seeds into the fields from a podium, along with ministers and LDF legislators, 1.5km away from the project site.“The promoters had come to me twice (seeking support). I told them this is our position and we are not against any airport. The issue is now before the court. That doesn’t mean we are for the airport building here.”The previous government, which restricted the industrial area to 500 acres, had offered a few acres of land to the KGS Aranmula International Airport for a 10% stake in the Rs20bn project which targets huge NRI population here, besides tourists and pilgrims to the Sabarimala hill shrine.Its promoters insist that they did not fill fields or wetlands and it was all done by the previous owners. They say they are prepared to build the airport, though on a lesser scale than the original plan, in the existing land in their position.Supporters, largely NRIs and opposition Congress Party leaders, cite large-scale destruction of mountains and paddy fields for the upcoming Kannur airport and the highly successful Cochin airport to emphasise their point.“We only said the airport cannot be allowed here as it will mean destroying nature and the environment. We do not want an airport here. There will be no change in this decision,” Vijayan said.A federal expert appraisal committee on infrastructure has given its nod to the KGS Aranmula International Airport Limited to go ahead with a new environment impact assessment (EIA).The National Green Tribunal had in May last year ordered stopping all construction activities at the airport site, in the Pathanamthitta district, on technical grounds.The Supreme Court later upheld the verdict questioning the competence of Enviro Care India Pvt Ltd, the agency that prepared the EIA, as it has no government accreditation.