No airport over mangroves: Jairam Ramesh

June 22, 2009

New Delhi: The Ministry of Forest and Environment has put a halt on

the construction of the Navi Mumbai Airport as it wants to save the

mangroves at the site.

Union Forest and Environment minister Jairam Ramesh said,

" International Airport doesn't have to be in prime ecological value

land. In nine cases out of ten, alternatives can be found. "

The minister has issued a directive to the Maharashtra government to

shift the site of ambitious airport project over concerns of threat to

mangroves, following which the State and Centre are at loggerheads.

Spread across 20 sq km, the construction for the Rs 9000 crore Navi

Mumbai airport site would mean:

Clearing 150 hectares of mangroves that are crucial barriers to

prevent flooding.

Reclaiming wetlands after tweaking coastal rules to allow development.

Since mangroves are not classified as forest they're easy target for

developers.

In fact, with persistent lobbying the CONG-NCP led State government

has managed to amend the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) act as a

'special case' for the new airport.

It was the Environment ministry that gave an in-principle nod to the

state's proposal.

Officials of CIDCO, the nodal agency for the project are now baffled

at the Centre's change of heart

Meanwhile, chairman, CIDCO Nakul Patil said, '' There's no question of

changing the site. No site available that can be considered now'.'

Environment activists welcome the corrective measures. Bombay

Environmental Action Group (BEAG) Debi goenka said, ''Everybody knew

this plan would be an environmental disaster.''

Tampering with nature's flood barriers led to a destructive impact on

Mumbai during the July 2005 floods. With the Navi Mumbai airport plans

stirring up a Centre- State debate, will the Environment ministry bow

to political pressure remains to be seen.

(With inputs from Bahar Dutt)

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