Navi Mumbai airport may take off

There is a fresh ray of hope for the new airport at Panvel in Navi Mumbai, with the environment and civil aviation ministries attempting to bridge their differences over the project.

Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh, who has repeatedly expressed his concerns about the project, has now asked City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (Cidco) to modify its design so that the proposed airport does not alter the course of two rivers — the Gadhi and Ulwe — to protect the area’s lagoons.

For its part, Cidco too is showing some flexibility. “Independently, Cidco is looking at modifying the plans for the airport to see if it can manage without diverting the rivers,” said an environment ministry official. A Cidco official confirmed that the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) had indicated that the airport could be built if the existing lagoons and rivers were protected. “At the last meeting with Cidco, the EAC wanted high resolution maps of alternative sites,” the official added.
 

PROBLEM AREAS

• The proposed airport would have altered the course of two rivers, Gadhi and Ulwe, affecting the lagoons in the area
• The project would have jeopardised the survival of a mangrove forest, which is spread over 400 acres
• Building the airport would require the levelling of a 80-metre-high hill, raising coastal zone management issues

The ministry of environment and forests had approved, in principle, a plan to set up a greenfield airport in Navi Mumbai, with the project to be implemented by Cidco and appraised by the EAC. EAC members are scheduled to visit the site in the second week of September and meet with villagers, government representatives and Cidco.

The Navi Mumbai airport project has three major environmental problems: the diversion of two rivers, unlikely survival of mangroves spread over 400 acres and the blasting of a hill. A solution appears to have been thrashed out during a closed-door meeting between Ramesh and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, although environment ministry officials claim no such formal meeting took place.

Ramesh has held back approval for the project, saying he first wanted to look into all aspects related to the environment. His ministry had also suggested that the state government look at alternative sites. Patel has argued against shifting the site to Kalyan or Rewas-Madva, saying they were not suitable for an airport. Parliamentarians from the state also took up the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently.

While both Delhi and Mumbai airports were privatised at the same time, the Capital has managed to expand its annual capacity by 34 million passengers to 60 million. The GMR-led consortium Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), which operates the airport, managed to increase capacity by building a new terminal as there was sufficient land available.

In contrast, there are limited capacity addition possibilities at the existing Mumbai airport, operated by a GVK-led consortium.

The Mumbai airport is expected to exhaust its annual capacity of 40 million passengers by 2013 and a new airport will add 60 million a year. Due to growing pressure on the airport, the civil aviation ministry does not want any increase in the number of flights from the existing Mumbai airport.