TRIVANDRUM, Jan24 2012: The proposal for a fifth airport in the tiny state of Kerala has caught in rough weather.The work on the Greenfield airport at Aranmula in Pathanamthitta district has come to a standstill following opposition from local people, environmentalists and a section of political parties, who fear that the project would lead to eviction of 3,000 families and submergence of over 500 acres of waterlogged paddy fields. The project mooted by a group of US-based Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in the early 2000s gained momentum after the Chennai-based KGS Group, in which the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group has 15 per cent stake, took it over last year. Though the new promoter has managed to get all clearances from the federal and state governments, their attempt to get the entire area declared as industrial area by the state government has backfired. The local people viewed this as a “legal fraud’’ aimed at getting clearances through “short-cut’’ for certain matters rejected by the state government earlier and demanded the revocation of the order. An all-party meeting convened by the District Collector in the wake of mounting protests against the airport has decided to halt all proceedings on the proposed airport till the order is withdrawn by the state government. The notification declaring 500 acres of land at Aranmula, Mallappushaserry and Kidangannur villages was issued by the Additional Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary (Industries) T Balakrishnan the day the elections to the Lok Sabha were announced. Interestingly, the notification is being opposed by both the ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF). District UDF convenor Peelipose Thomas suspects a larger conspiracy behind the notification, which usurps powers of the local self-government institutions, Town Planning Board and Development Authorities. Former CPM acting district secretary K. Padmakumar alleged that the federal government had granted clearances to the project even before the company acquiring any land in its name. He alleged that the company’s plan to reclaim the paddy fields to build the airport will have alarming consequences. V.S. Vijayan, Chairman of the Kerala State Biodiversity Board and former Director of the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), Coimbatore, said that the reclamation would lead to floods in the Aranmula town. He has urged the government to stop the reclamation and initiate action against the company for the environmental damage already caused by them. The People’s Action Council, which is spearheading the campaign against the airport, is gearing up for a massive agitation. K S Suresh, Council leader, said they would launch a mass agitation if the government did not accept the all-party decision to rescind the special industrial area
notification. The state government has not officially responded to the demand. However, local Congress leaders, P J Kurien and Anto Antony, both MPs, have called upon the people to adopt a realistic approach towards the airport project.
