PM to intervene in Navi Mumbai airport impasse

The Congress-led government in Maharashtra on Friday received a major boost after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured a delegation led by Chief Minister Ashok Chavan to convene a meeting with the ministries of civil aviation and environment and forests to thrash out a solution for the proposed new airport in Navi Mumbai.

The delegation apprised the prime minister of the present situation, wherein the ministry of environment and forests had clearly indicated that the environment clearance for the Navi Mumbai site would not be granted without carefully looking into all environment issues. Chavan sought the Prime Minister's intervention to end the airport impasse.

“The Prime Minister has assured that he would personally intervene in the matter to reach an amicable solution. The state government is willing to go the extra mile with the ministry of environment and forests to preserve the ecology of the region,” Chavan told reporters.

The proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport involves three important matters of environmental concern — training and diversion of rivers, loss of mangroves and blasting of hills.

The delegation had unanimously held that the question of moving out of the proposed site in Navi Mumbai would not be compromised upon, said Chavan. He said an Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) has been requested to visit the site at the earliest and consider the proposal in the EAC meeting scheduled on September 22.

“Taking into consideration the air traffic congestion owing to growing air travel demand, Mumbai urgently needed a second airport as the existing one was fast reaching a saturation point,” he said.

Chavan said this matter was also taken up with the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Thursday and she has assured she would look into the matter.