Aranmula airport to appeal against Green Tribunal verdict

Expects SC to reverse the order; Phase -I to be operational in 2016

KGS Aranmula International Airport Limited (KAIAL) will appeal in the Supreme Court against the verdict of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), said Gigi George, KAIAL managing director.

Addressing a press conference here today, he said, "the airport project is very much on" and the Phase-I would be operational in 2016, according to the earlier schedule.

Parallel to pursuing the legal process, the company had entrusted Engineers India Limited (EIL) and SGS India to prepare a fresh Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report to rectify the lapses in the earlier report prepared by Enviro Care.

George said they would re-submit the EIA report after studying the lapses. These lapses happened because of the speedy preparation of the report in order to complete it before the 2011 Assembly polls. However, the Chennai Bench of the NGT had cancelled the environment clearance to the project on May 28.

"We will correct it and re-submit. We hope the judgment of the tribunal will be reversed in the Supreme Court. We are also ready to go for public hearing again. I am confident of commissioning the first phase in two years," he said.

The new BJP government at the Centre was positive towards the project when we approached the civil aviation ministry. The President's address to Parliament also had given us confidence as it focused on infrastructure projects, with emphasis on low-cost airports to serve smaller towns. Aranmula Airport fits this description, he said.

George also said the company was ready to increase the stake of the Kerala government to 26 per cent or more. The state government now has 10 per cent holding in the promoting company. The LDF government was very pro-active towards the project and had given 17 approvals in six months, he said.

The tribunal has ordered to stop all the ongoing construction activities at the project site in Pathanamthitta district. The airport project, located in the central part of Kerala, went into controversy as the famous Aranmula Sree Parthasarathy temple lies in the vicinity of the project. This created strong resistance from the public, especially Hindu devotees.

The Aranmula Heritage Village Protection Action Council (AHVPAC) and political parties like the CPI and the CPI (M) approached the tribunal against the green clearance of the environment ministry.

The airport was planned in around 500 acres with an investment of Rs 2,000 crore. The Kerala State Biodiversity Board submitted a report to the government in March 2013, expressing its reservations over the land use changes and ecological imbalance the project would entail.

The board observed that 80 per cent of land earmarked for the project was paddy fields. The conversion would have an impact on the remaining wetlands, disturb the food chain, and accelerate depletion of fish resources as well as other flora and fauna in the Pamba River basin, the report stated.