Maharashtra using all-party consensus to get Centre’s nod for city’s second airport, which is mired in environmental controversy.
The Democratic Front government has taken its battle for Navi Mumbai airport to prime minister Manmohan Singh. In a two-pronged strategy, the state government is using both administrative and political pressure through consensus to get a nod from the Centre, which has so far appeared reluctant due to the environmental issues dogging the project.
Leading the mission is chief minister Ashok Chavan, who is determined that the airport at Navi Mumbai comes up in the stipulated time frame. Chavan said, “If the project gets clearance in a couple of months, we can still meet the first phase deadline of 2014.”
The Navi Mumbai airport project, estimated to cost Rs9,970 crore, is to be completed in four phases, and will include two 4,500 metre runways a kilometre apart. The target is to tap 10 million passengers at the end of the first phase. The next three phases — to be completed in 2018, 2023 and 2028 — is expected to service 50 million passengers.
The biggest hurdle for the state is the negative response from Union minister for environment Jairam Ramesh, who doesn’t want to compromise on green violations for the airport.
Highly placed sources in chief minister’s office, however, revealed to DNA,
“Preliminary discussions clearly point to the prime minister’s office (PMO) being positive about the Navi Mumbai project.” The state government also intends to discuss the airport plans with Ramesh when he arrives in Mumbai next week.
A government source said, “In case of the Navi Mumbai airport, the most controversial aspect relates to the diversion of a river. But, through studies, a solution is being explored to overcome the problems.”
An all-party delegation of members of the parliament from the state met the prime minister a couple of days ago urging that the airport be allowed without further delay. Elected members from the Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena and the BJP were part of the delegation. NCP’s Supriya Sule, who had reservations about the airport due to the environmental aspect,also joined the delegation and o expressed support for the airport.
Union minister for civil aviation Praful Patel is networking with political parties to explain the project’s significance in the backdrop of the over-congestion of Chhatrapati Shivaji international airport.
Pawan Hans re-look: In another significant development, the chief minister’s land bank policy has revived the possibility of a re-look at the expansion of Pawan Hans at Juhu airport.
While a private consultant firm appointed by Air India is still conducting a study, the concern raised by the state environment department is on how to give a nod to a project which would amount to violation of Coastal Regulation Act.
An environment ministry official said, “We do have an expansion proposal from a private firm suggesting that we allow a runway through the sea. But when the Centre is getting stricter on coastal regulation, we cannot take a decision without considering the long term ramifications.”
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