The Rs 2,000-crore Greenfield airport project at Aranmula, a heritage village in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district, is threatening to mar the peace and tranquility of an entire region as people’s resistance is fast building up against the proposal to remove the front structure of the nearby Sri Parthasaradhi temple there and to reduce the height of its holy golden flagpole.
Harshly criticising the Government’s decision to permit such an airport that would seriously affect the ecology and culture of the region, Hindu Aikya Vedi leader Kummanam Rajasekharan said, “They are playing with fire. They are sowing wind to reap a whirlwind. Why should they take such actions that bring grief to the devoteesIJ”
According to a project report prepared by the Kerala Industrial and Technical Consultancy Organisation (Kitco) for the proposed airport, the exquisitely built entrance tower of the temple, which falls within a kilometre from the airport runway, will have to be removed from its present position and rebuilt some 285 metres away.
The Kitco project report further says that the height of the holy flagpole of the temple, which stands 30.8 metre tall, will have to be reduced by 5.9 metres if the airport is to function smoothly. A report of the Airport Authority of India (AAI), prepared in July, 2012 agrees with the Kitco’s project report almost on these matters.
“Nothing is going to happen. This is a heritage village and that status comes primarily from the existence of the temple there. There are laws that stipulate that existing places of worship should not be touched. You can’t build airports to make money in all districts by razing down temples, churches and mosques,” said an office-bear of the anti-airport agitation committee.
The airport being constructed by the KGS Aranmula International Airport limited, promoted by the Chennai-based KGS Group in which the Reliance Group has a 15 per cent stake, has been mired in controversies ever since it was conceived several years back because of the allegedly shady affairs associated with it.
The airport cannot be constructed without violating Kerala’s law for conservation of wetlands and paddy fields as it is to come up in the middle of a vast paddy field on the banks of the holy river, Pampa, on whose waters the famous Uthrattathi Boat Race takes place every year. Environmentalists have warned that the project would bring irreversible eco-destruction.
The acquisition of land — promoters say they need 500 acres — has generated a lot of controversies as the process had violated several revenue rules. However, Congress Chief Minister Oommen Chandy recently declared that the airport would be built irrespective of the protests. The Government has already acquired a ten-per cent stake in the airport company.
The Kitco report says that four hillocks falling within 100 metres from the airport’s runway, which would be 3,100 metre long and 45 metre wide, would have to be razed down. Apart from that, all structures and hills within six km from the runway that might cause hindrance to aircraft’s take-off and landing would have to be removed.
Moreover, the Kitco report proposes construction of a four-lane, 23-metre wide access road from Aranmula town to the airport site which would require the displacement of hundreds of families, commercial establishments and Government offices including the Aranmula police station. Also, all the canals and streams in the region would have to be filled up or diverted.
Kerala Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash, however, says that he has not “officially” received a copy of the project report and therefore he cannot comment on the matter. “But the State Government cannot go for anything that brings grief to the devotees. Also, I don’t believe the Airport Authority will do anything like that,” he said.
“The Chief Minister and the Revenue Minister are saying that no paddy field or wetland would be filled up. They also say that they would not hurt the religious sentiments of the devotees but reiterate that the airport would be constructed. Why are they talking in such contradictory termsIJ” asked Kummanam Rajasekharan.