Mangalore Airport Project Stayed

The Karnataka High Court yesterday stayed the setting up of a new international airport project, which was to come up near Mangalore.

Justice Ashok Bhan and Justice Mohammed Anwar passed the orders staying all proceedings, pertaining to the proposed project, untill further orders.

The ruling was passed on a writ petition filed by an environmental support group.

The petitioners had submitted that the 200-acre land identified by the DGCA for the project site was unsafe as it was situated near a high range of hills.

Further, 208 families would be displaced by the project and several century-old religious monuments would have to be moved out, hurting religious sentiments.

The petitioners also held that the project had been taken up without taking into account its environmental and social impact, and was in violation of the comprehensive development plan of greater Mangalore.