KOCHI: The Kerala government has informed the High Court here that it will withdraw the preliminary notifications issued by it to acquire land for the construction of the Sabarimala Greenfield airport in Kottayam district.
The government has also told the court that it will conduct a fresh Social Impact Assessment (SIA) study with regard to the project through a different agency. The submissions were made by it before the court on Thursday, June 20, during the hearing of a plea by a charitable trust and its managing trustee challenging the land acquisition notification.
In view of the submissions by the government, Justice Viju Abraham closed the petition “leaving open all other contentions on both sides”. The court had on April 25 directed the state government not to take any further steps for two months in connection with the preliminary notification to acquire land for the construction of the Sabarimala Greenfield airport.
The petitioners Ayana Charitable Trust and its managing trustee Siny Punnoose had alleged that the land acquisition process was aimed at illegally taking over their property — a rubber plantation measuring around 2,263 acres. The trust, represented by advocates P Haridas and Rishikesh Haridas, had claimed that the state government has been attempting to “grab its property” ever since it acquired the land in 2005. In its plea, the trust had also cited various Kerala High Court orders by which actions initiated by the government to allegedly grab its land were struck down. The state government had earlier said that the Sabarimala Greenfield airport will make it convenient for pilgrims coming from other states to reach the hill top shrine of Lord Ayyappa in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala. It said that having an airport there would also promote tourism and boost the economy. The Centre has granted the site and defence clearance for the Sabarimala Greenfield Airport project which is being developed on land in Erumeli South and Manimala villages in Kottayam district. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had told the state Assembly in February that the application for security clearance for the project is under consideration of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The petitioners, in their plea, had sought quashing of the appointment of the Centre for Management Development (CMD) to carry out the SIA study, its report, the expert committee’s recommendations, the sanction granted to proceed with acquisition and the land acquisition notification.
