The City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) today received a shot in the arm with the decision of the Experts Appraisal Committee (EAC) to visit the proposed airport site in Navi Mumbai.
EAC told Cidco during a meeting that it would visit the site in the third week of October before finalising its report. Cidco had clarified its stand on 61 points relating to the proposed airport and reiterated that there was no alternative site.
The development authority, in a last-ditch effort, said that from the categorisation criteria, the Navi Mumbai site has moderate impact in terms of environment score. The proposed site is a technically and environmentally preferred site as compared to Rewas Mandwa and 15 other sites discussed during the EAC meeting on August 20.
“We have put up our argument reiterating that there is no alternative to Navi Mumbai site. Now the EAC has to finally decide after visiting the proposed airport site after October 18. We are quite hopeful that EAC will be satisfied after its visit,” a Cidco official, who did not wish to be identified, told Business Standard.
The official said it had clarified that noise levels would be monitored during all phases of the project.
The project has been a major bone of contention between the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Civil Aviation Ministry along with the Maharashtra government. The state government and civil aviation ministry have been pushing for the proposed airport because there are limited possibilities of adding passenger capacity at the existing Mumbai airport.
