Aranmula, a peaceful heritage village known for its lush green paddy fields, rivulets, the holy river Pampa and a famous temple, in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district is set to become the centre of massive agitations, thanks to the order issued the other day by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest according approval to a Rs 2,000-crore Greenfield airport project there.
The airport is being constructed by KGS Aranmula International Airport ltd, promoted by Chennai-based KGS Group in which the Reliance Group has a 15-percent stake. Even before the project had got the necessary nods, Kerala’s Congress-led UDF Government had acquired a ten per cent stake in it. There are allegations that Robert Vadra has stake in the project.
As per studies, vast tracts of paddy fields, brooks and a branch of River Pampa will have to be filled up for the project in a state where reclamation of wetlands and paddy fields is legally banned. It will also necessitate the razing of five hillocks which locals believe are the guardians of the heritage village. This would lead to the eviction of 2,000 Dalit families.
These activities would lead to the destruction of the ecology of a whole region famous for its natural richness and heritage. Apart from that, the height of the holy flagpole of the ancient Sree Parthasaradhy temple of Aranmula will have to be reduced and the entrance structure of the temple will have to be reconstructed, according to an Airport Authority of India study.
Agitations started on Tuesday evening itself with the joint agitation committee opposing the airport project observing a shutdown in Aranmula from 4.00 pm. The committee informed that it would approach the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal against the Centre’s decision. Poet Sugathakumari said she would fight against the project till her last breath.
“I don’t want to say anything more than Vinasha kaale vipareeta buddhi,” said senior Congress leader VM Sudheeran, criticising the Central act. “Such a decision shouldn’t have been taken. Permission has been accorded to the project without even a basic techno-economic feasibility study. Is this is what they call developmentIJ” he asked.
The CPI(M)-led Opposition lDF alleged that there had been huge corruption behind the approval for the project. State CPI secretary Pannyan Raveendran said that the Government had betrayed the people of an entire region. The CPI(M) made it clear that it would launch protests against the Central decision.
Questioning the necessity of yet another airport in the State, Opposition leader in the Assembly VS Achuthanandan said the nod for the project showed the anti-farmer stand of the Congress. State BJP president V Muraleedharan said nobody would be allowed to enter Aranmula to build the airport in the name of the Central approval.
When agitations against the project were raging in Aranmula and elsewhere some months back, Congress Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had stated that the airport would be developed irrespective of the protests. Expressing his helplessness, State Congress president Ramesh Chennithala asked, “What can we do if the Centre clears the projectIJ”
Now that the crucial approval had been granted for the project, construction of the airport would start “immediately”, said an official of the KGS Group in Thiruvananthapuram. “We hope that the first aircraft could operate from the airport in December 2015 to coincide with the Sabarimala pilgrimage season,” he said.