Dinesh Kamath's news item 'Navi Mumbai airport project almost gets green signal' that was published in Newsband

Navi Mumbai airport project almost gets green signal

By Dinesh Kamath

NAVI MUMBAI: Ministry of Environment and Forest has at last granted permission to go ahead with the new airport project in Navi Mumbai.

It was Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan who put in a lot of effort to make this possible. Union environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan should also be thanked for the green signal that the project received.

The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) gave an okay on several conditions for diversion of around 250 hectares of forest land in Raigad.

The FAC also gave clearance in the matter of mangrove forest with the condition that afforestation of mangrove species over an area equivalent in extent to mangrove forest area being diverted has to be raised and maintained by the user agency at their own cost.

FAC also asked to secure the help of reputed organizations in environmental matters to reduce the negative effect of airport on environment.

The committee also said that there was no objection to the airport site being at 10 km radius of the Karnala Bird sanctuary because the two airstrips proposed in the project are East-West-oriented and will have lesser impact on Karnala Bird Sanctuary. The committee made it clear that no extension of the project will be allowed in the future.

FAC also looked into the matter of and asked the government to come up with a plan for approval. The committee insisted on formation of a monitoring committee and submission of a six-monthly report to the MoEF.

FAC’s recommendation now just needs Jayanti Natarajan’s approval. Even the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has shown special interest in this airport project and has set a deadline for the awarding of contract for this project.

Although the estimated cost of the project has risen considerably, it will create employment for a large number of youngsters. Besides, it will decongest the international airport in Mumbai. The capacity of the proposed airport will be 60 million passengers per annum which is more than Mumbai airport.