CPI, Congress lock horns over Aranmula airport project

The war of words over the possible revival of the Aranmula airport project intensified on Saturday, with the Congress and the Communist Party of India (CPI) locking horns over the proposal.

The episode began with CPI leader P. Prasad, who served as Agriculture Minister in the previous Left Democratic Front government, warning of a strong agitation if the State government moved ahead with the project. “Land mafias, who had remained unseen in Kerala for the past decade, have now resurfaced under the protection of those in power,” he said. Any attempt to sound the death knell for the polders of Aranmula would be met with stiff resistance, he added.

Flawed report

The former Minister’s intervention came in the wake of a fresh drone survey being conducted at the proposed airport site on Friday. According to Mr. Prasad, the decision to establish an airport at Aranmula was based on a flawed study report riddled with errors.

Pathanamthitta MP Anto Antony, however, hit back at the CPI by questioning its stand on the Kannur airport project. “What did the CPI do when an airport was built in Kannur by levelling hills?” he asked. Maintaining that the new UDF government had not taken any decision on the Aranmula airport project so far, Mr. Antony reiterated that there would be no going back on the demand for an airport in Pathanamthitta.

Drone survey

The controversy was triggered after Abraham Kalamannil, who owns land at the proposed project site, conducted a drone survey of the area on Friday with a team of experts brought in from Delhi. Speaking to the media, Mr. Kalamannil also claimed that the new UDF government, as well as Aranmula MLA Abin Varkey and Mr. Antony, were favourably disposed towards the project. He also said the company would return to conduct a second phase of the survey.

The Aranmula airport proposal dates back to 2004, when Mr. Kalamannil initiated preliminary steps for the project. It received in-principle approval during the tenure of the V.S. Achuthanandan government. After the Oommen Chandy government assumed office in 2011, the project area was declared an industrial zone.

The proposal, however, subsequently ran aground in the face of a major public agitation. In May 2014, the National Green Tribunal quashed the environmental clearance granted for the project, bringing the proceedings to a halt after the Supreme Court upheld the tribunal’s order.

The land held by Mr. Kalamannil, along with other parcels in the project area, was later declared excess land. Challenges to the decision are now pending before the Kerala High Court, with the case scheduled to come up for consideration on July 16.