The Maharashtra Government’s ambitious Greenfield airport proposal for Chandrapur has been put on hold after The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) red-flagged it on the ground that the project fell within the tiger corridor. The green panel said the diversion of nearly 63.540 hectares of forest land would threaten the free movement of the Big Cats in the region. The FAC, under the Union Environment Ministry also said if given go ahead, the airport will further lead to infrastructural development like roads, hotels and other residential/commercial areas in and around the proposed site.

“This may have an adverse impact on tiger movement in the project area which falls within the Tiger Corridors of Eastern Vidharbha Landscape,” said panel members.

They were discussing the project details at a meeting held here last month.

The FAC has also asked the State Government to explore other sites for the project or expand the nearby existing airport in the region to meet the need of increasing aviation footfalls.

According to a senior Ministry official, the proposed airport is planned at village Vihirgaon and Murti, Taluka Rajura of District Chandrapur in Maharashtra, seeking diversion of 63.540 hectares out of which 25.27 hectares is protected forest land and the rest is reserved forest land. A total of 3,392 trees will be cut down for the project.

Noting that the project area is a Tiger Corridor of Eastern Vidharbha Landscape, the panel pointed out that the proposed airport site is at a distance of 8.35 km from the boundary of Kanhargaon wildlife Sanctuary which is still awaiting final notification of the Environment Sensitive Zone.

The Maharashtra Government officials said they had explored three alternative sites, but these could not be finalised in view of the obstacles like high tension lines, chimneys and hills etc.

The proposed site is quite near (39 kms) to the already existing Chandrapur(Morwa) Airport and the Nagpur Airport. The officials also claimed that the scope of expansion in case of Chandrapur (Morwa) airport was limited and the distance between Nagpur Airport and the proposed Greenfield Airport was over 180 kms, noted the panel.

Moreover, the proposed airport falls in the underdeveloped part of Vidarbha Region and when established it will ease the pressure of air traffic on Nagpur airport and will also provide an alternate option to the travelers and also directly help elevate the economic condition of the region.

However, the Dehradun based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in its report rejected the claim, saying "given the wildlife value of the area and its importance of connecting corridors, the present site may or shall not be considered for the construction of the proposed Greenfield airport".

The State Chief Wildlife Warden too had expressed reservation about the proposed project. "In view of the benefits that seem to be accruing due to the project for local population in terms of the number of employment opportunities, the trade of between the protection of the corridor to be disrupted if the project comes through and the benefits proposed, weighs heavily in favour of protection of the corridor".