Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh today said a "compromise formula" is being actively worked out with the Civil Aviation Ministry over the controversial Navi Mumbai airport project, as he sends a high-level Environment Ministry team to inspect the site on October 21.
With Prime Minister's Office closely monitoring the progress in building a second airport in Mumbai, the report of the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) which will study whether green concerns are being taken care of will be crucial for deciding the fate of the project.
"We are actively working for a compromise formula. I am hopeful mitigating steps will be taken," Ramesh said.
Official sources said EAC would visit the Navi Mumbai greenfield airport site on October 21-22 for a spot study and hold a meeting. The project has been stuck for several years for ecological reasons.
While the proposed airport site is not being changed, the location for non-aeronautical assets like hotels and shopping areas are likely to be shifted so that the mangroves are not affected and two rivers are not diverted, they said.
To address these concerns, the Civil Aviation Ministry is also willing to change the orientation of the twin runways after getting technical clearances from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and Airports Authority of India.
These developments are taking place keeping in mind the need to expedite the project, which is being closely monitored by the Prime Minister's Office, the sources said. The Union Cabinet had given its nod to the project way back in May 2007.
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The existing Mumbai airport, where additional flights are now being restricted due to saturation, is slated to exhaust its capacity of handling 40 million passengers a year by 2013. Hence there was an urgent need to construct the new airport at Navi Mumbai.
The Environment Ministry had raised concerns about destruction of a large area of mangroves, diversion of two rivers -- Ulve and Gadhi, and flattening of a hillock to make way for the runways and taxiways.
The EAC had suggested the project promoter City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) to take steps like relocation of non-essential airport facilities a little away from the site to mitigate the environmental impact.
It had also sought that CIDCO ensures that the airport design should be finalised in such a manner that there is minimum damage to the mangroves spread over 400 acres.
The site plan was already in the process of being changed to accommodate the non-aeronautical assets and shift the alignment of the runways to save the mangroves, the sources said.
However, now the final call will be taken by the EAC team after its visit to the site to get an idea of what mitigating steps the CIDCO has taken to minimise eco-impact.
The Aviation and Environment Ministries have been on loggerheads over the issue with the former stressing the need for speedy clearance for the second airport project in the western metropolis and the latter expressing grave concern over environmental damage.