‘No MoEF clearance for Aranmula airport project’

In a severe setback to the proposed Aranmula airport project, the Thiruvaranmula Paithrukagrama Samrakashana Samiti has revealed that Union Environment Minister Jayanti Natarajan had made it clear that no environmental clearance was given for the Aranmula airport project.

Addressing a news conference here on Friday, samiti patron Kummanam Rajasekharan and Aranmula Palliyoda-Pallivilakku Samrakshana Samiti general convener P Induchoodan said that Jayanti Natarajan, in the reply to the memoranda submitted by Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Sushma Swaraj and Kummanam Rajasekharan, informed that no environment clearance was granted to the Aranmula airport project.

Kummanam said that the clearances were given by the Defence and Civil Aviation Departments for the airport project on condition that

the clearances were subject to the future clearance of the Environment Ministry.

Hence, the clearances given by both Defence and Civil Aviation Departments have become invalid, he said.

In addition, the Defence Ministry had also made the clearances of Local Self-Government institutions and other government departments mandatory, he said. However, hardly any clearances were obtained from the institutions,  Kummanam said.

Kummanam said that the Central Government should order a CBI probe into the political-economic-land mafia nexus behind the airport project.

He said that the KGS Group and the CM have misled the people through false claims on the airport project.

The government should review its decision on 10 per cent share participation in the airport project, he said. Kummanam warned of intensifying agitation against the airport project.

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An old report of M.P.Anto Antony’s claim that the Centre has given the green signal for the proposed airport at Aranmula.