New Mumbai airport call likely by October end

It may take another month for any decision to emerge on the proposed Navi Mumbai airport, senior government officials said on Friday.

A two-day meeting of the expert appraisal committee (EAC), which has to clear the project before it can take off, is expected to begin in the city on October 21. An EAC delegation is also expected to visit the site before the meeting.

The project has been pending for some time now as the ministries of civil aviation and environment settle their differences on the proposed airport. The site in Panvel was objected to by the environment ministry for at least three reasons — mangroves will be affected, a hill will have to be cut, and Ghadi and Ulwe rivers will have to be diverted.

It was only after the project implementer, City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd (Cidco), agreed to make changes, including changing the alignment of the runway and shifting the non-aeronautical facilities away from the airport that the project inched closer to an environmental clearance.

Asked whether the proposed change in runway alignment had received the nod of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the officials said, “The DGCA and Airports Authority of India have attended meetings on this issue, and have been witness to the changes proposed.”

Late last month, Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel had asserted that all clearances for the Navi Mumbai project are expected by October-end.