Concerns over airstrip close to tiger reserve aggravates in Kerala

Despite concerns raised by Kerala forest authorities as well as environmentalists, an airstrip of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) is in the final stages of commissioning close to the Periyar Tiger Reserve at Idukki in Kerala

Located just around 650 meters away from the tiger reserve, the operations of trainer aircraft are feared to pose danger to wildlife. The concerns of environmentalists were aggravated further by the state government's fresh move to use the airstrip for emergency purposes also, even as a petition against the project is pending before the court.

Idukki district administration said in a recent letter to NCC that the airstrip should be kept ready for operating helicopters for disaster management in wake of any emergency situation during the ongoing pilgrimage of Sabarimala Ayyappa temple, which is around 30 kilometers away.

Environmentalists fear that it was the beginning of the move to use the airstrip for other purposes, especially since the tourism lobby is also quite attracted to the project.

"So far the authorities were reiterating that the airstrip is only for NCC training purposes using microlight aircraft. Hence the present move, that too in the form of an official letter, is quite fishy as it could pave the way for using the airstrip for other purposes in the due course," says Animal Welfare Board former member M N Jayachandran.

Jayachandran had earlier moved the Kerala High Court against the project, which is coming up on around 4.85 hectares of land near Peerumedu. He stated that the project was in an ecologically fragile zone and mandatory permissions were not obtained. The matter is still pending before the court.

"The noise of aircraft and the pollution will affect the wild animal population of the region like tigers and elephants. Aircraft movements also pose a threat to the birds like the Malabar Hornbill," he said.

State forest officials and National Tiger Conservation Authority had also raised concerns over the project.

"The NCC has been defending the project citing that since no air traffic control unit was required and no major construction was involved the project has exemptions from environmental clearances. It also said that the required permissions from civil aviation authorities were obtained. Low noise of the microlight aircraft would not cause much disturbance," said an NCC official.

A portion of the airstrip was washed away in a landslip during the rains in July. This delayed the commissioning of the airstrip. A trial landing attempt in April had failed to owe to an embankment near the runway, which is now cleared. Around 1,000 air wing cadets could be trained at the facility, as per NCC sources.