A
Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Thursday directed the Centre
and State governments to provide details of clearances given for
constructing a greenfield airport in Aranmula.
The
Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice V.
Chitambaresh gave the directive on a writ petition filed by poet
Sugathakumari and two others challenging the sanction given by the State
government for constructing the airport.
According
to the petitioners, the proposed airport did not have the requisite
environmental clearance. It was being constructed after filling paddy
fields. Therefore, it was against the provisions of the Kerala
Conservation of Paddy and Wetland Act and Rules. The clearance had been
granted under the provisions of the Kerala Industrial Single Window
Clearance Board and Industrial Township Areas Development Act.
They
said that the Act did not empower the State government to notify a
particular area as industrial and accord clearance for the project in
the area. It was applicable only to projects coming up in declared
industrial areas. They contended that the project would damage the
area's ecosystem. They also pointed out that there was no need for
another airport in Aranmula as three airports - Thiruvananthapuram,
Nedumbassery, and Navy airport - were located within 150-km radius of
Aranmula.
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