The website of the Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, has placed the Rs.2,000-crore KGS Aranmula International Airport Project as 148th item on the list of 650 projects accepted by the Union government’s Project Management System.
KGS company managing director Giji George has stated that the project is under the consideration of the Project Monitoring Group (PMG) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The PMG was set up in June 2013 on the directions of the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for fast-tracking stalled investment projects.
The Cabinet Secretariat’s website has projected the Aranmula airport as one among the first 150 projects accepted by the PMG.
It says that the “airport project has received all approvals, including Steering Committee convened by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Defence, Home Affairs, and Kerala government which has declared the project area as Industrial Land.”
The website also says that the first stage of processing for Environment Clearance completed with the Expert Appraisal Committee conducting meeting for framing Terms of Reference (ToR) for Environment Impact Assessment (EIA).
NOC withdrawn
The Defence Ministry had withdrawn the no-objection certificate (NOC) for the airport project on May 8 in the backdrop of the National Green Tribunal cancelling the Environment Clearance granted for the project earlier. Meanwhile, the KGS company has reportedly started a fresh EIA in the wetlands of Aranmula and Aranmula Puncha.
Javadekar’s statement
Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar made a statement in Kochi the other day that his Ministry had not framed any ToR for conducting a fresh EIA in Aranmula as the green tribunal as well as the Supreme Court had rejected the controversial airport project.
Thomas P. Thomas, noted environmentalist and academic, says the contradictory stands taken by Mr. Javadekar and the Cabinet Secretariat had left enough elbowroom for manipulation by vested interests.
Shaji Chacko, Aranmula Heritage Village Action Council convener, says the varying stance taken by the mainstream political parties on the airport issue and its socio-environmental impact had shaken the common man’s confidence in political leaders.
Cabinet Secretariat’s website cites Aranmula airport as one among 150 projects accepted by Project Monitoring Group chaired by PM
