With the land acquisition of the Sabarimala airport project in a legal tangle and the objections raised by central government agencies, the Kerala government has a herculean task ahead, but it hopes to overcome the hurdles.
Apart from the Sabarimala pilgrims, the airport project, proposed to be in Cheruvally estate in Kottayam district, about 50 kilometres from Sabarimala, also aims to cater to the considerable NRI population from Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts of Kerala. There are also many tourists visiting nearby destinations like Kumarakom backwaters and high ranges tourist spots of Idukki district.
Special officer for the Sabarimala Airport project V Thulasidas told DH that the queries by central agencies were only part of the normal process for approval for airports. Similar queries were raised for the Kannur International Airport and those were resolved by convincing the central agencies of the feasibility, said the former chairman and managing director of Air India.
Of the Director General of Civil Aviation's (DGCA) many queries over the project proposal by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation, the major one was that the Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi international airports were only 110 kilometre and 88 kilometre respectively from the proposed site. As per Green Field airport policy, new airports should be at least 150 kilometre away from existing international airports.
Ownership of the land was also caught up in a legal tangle with the Kerala-based Believers Church of India claiming ownership of the 2,263-acre Cheruvally estate. A government committee had earlier found that the Harrison Malayalam plantations sold out the estate to the Believers Church of India using forged documents as the Harisson Malayalam plantations only had possession rights and no ownership over the land.
There were also reports that the Income Tax authorities recently confiscated the estate along with other properties of the Believers Church of India following charges of income tax evasion.
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