Expert panel to meet on Aug 18,will take call on green signal

The Expert Appraisal Committee of the Environment Ministry,which had met last month,had asked project developer CIDCO (City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra) to provide additional information,including a social impact assessment as mandated under the National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy of the government.

It had also asked CIDCO to submit better resolution maps of the proposed site as also the list of alternative sites that had been considered for the project but were rejected,alongwith the reason for rejection.

These were seen as fresh attempts to block the project that involves the development of a second airport in Mumbai to meet the increasing demand on the city’s airspace. Accordingly,a group of MPs from Mumbai called on the PM earlier this week and sought his intervention in getting the environment clearance expedited.

The Environment Ministry,however,is digging in its heels,pointing out environmental impacts of the project. Nearly 400 acres of mangroves are likely to be destroyed,two rivers will have to be diverted while an 80-metre hilltop would need to be flattened. This could have serious ecological consequences for the area,the ministry has warned.

It has repeatedly suggested that the state government identify another site. But with little land available in and around Mumbai and a major part of land acquisition having already been completed,scouting for another site is not an option that the state government wants to get into.

As an alternative,the Environment Ministry has suggested changing the design of the airport after studying various other airports in the world. It has specifically mentioned the airport in Osaka,Japan which is constructed on stilts,and airports in the Netherlands,the whole of which falls in low-lying areas. But such design changes will involve a huge cost escalation.

The result has been a complete deadlock in the progress of the new airport even as the existing one gets completely saturated. So much so that Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel is considering a complete ban on the operation of private turbo-prop jets from the Santa Cruz airport to accommodate demands for more commercial flights.

Patel has been repeatedly telling his Cabinet colleague,Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh,that there was a need to balance the environmental concerns with the developmental requirements of the country.

Ramesh himself is scheduled to visit Mumbai later this month — after the meeting of the expert committee — and it is possible that he may visit the proposed site.

With time running out and the stakes becoming really high,it is now to be seen what the expert committee decides in about three weeks time.