Airport project: Promoter group directed to produce all files

Kerala High Court today directed KGS Group to produce by January 10 all files relating to the proposed Rs 2000 crore Aranmulla airport project, which has run into controversy following protests by environmentalists.
The direction in this regard was issued by a division bench comprising Justice T R Ramachandran Nair and Justice B Kemal Pasha in a suo motu proceedings initiated by the court.
The proceedings were taken up on the basis of apprehensions by management of Sri Parthasarthy Temple in Aranmulla that its threshold and flagmast would be affected once the airport becomes a reality.
Meanwhile, KGS Group, the promoter of the project, informed the high court that it has not manipulated the prefeasiblity report of KITCO, the technical consultancy firm.

KGS stated that the report was received after paying necessary consultation fee to KITCO and it was now the property of the Group and they can accept, reject, modify or alter the report to suit their needs, they stated.
The Group had earlier informed the court that the flag mast, Gopuram or any other structure of the Sri Parthasarthy temple need not be touched, modified or displaced for the construction of the project.

The KGS had also informed the court that the Devaswom Ombdusman of the temple had 'misunderstood' the technical meaning of 'threshold displacement', which means displace starting point or runway.

In an impleading petition, the company has also given an undertaking stating that no part of the temple or gold mast or Gopuram would be altered in any manner.
The project, proposed to be built in a 700 acre area in Aranmula in Pathnamthitta district, is facing stiff opposition from environmental activists and opposition parties, who are saying that it would destroy many of the characteristics that qualify Aranmula as a heritage village by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage.
There are also fears that the project would affect the temple.