THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The proposed Sabarimala greenfield airport project has gained traction with the state government constituting a search committee to select a special officer for coordinating the activities. The search committee comprises Tom Jose, Chief Secretary, Manoj Joshi, Additional Chief Secretary (Finance), and Madhavan Nambiar, former secretary, Union Ministry of Civil Aviation, as members.
The committee has been told to furnish its recommendation within a month. Earlier, the state government had asked Louis Berger Consulting Pvt Ltd, which was appointed the consultant, to submit a techno-economic feasibility report (TEFR) for the project. According to a senior officer closely associated with the project, the consultancy has submitted the TEFR to the state government with all details including the traffic projections and cost involved for setting up the project.
However, the company has not conducted the environment impact assessment (EIA) as the state is yet to take a final decision on the project including land acquisition. Though the state government identified Cheruvally Estate as the proposed site for the new airport project, situated close to the Sabarimala temple, the ownership of the land is mired in a court dispute.
With the appointment of the special officer for the project, the project will get a breather. In fact, according to industry experts, an agency or a special officer has to be entrusted with the task of securing clearance from the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and undertaking a host of works such as site inspection by Airports Authority of India-Directorate General of Civil Aviation (AAI-DGCA) and submission of their evaluation report to the union ministry, seeking clearance from the Ministry of Defence and site clearance from MoCA, even before embarking on a detailed TEFR, including a detailed project report (DPR) and pro forma for security clearance.
Though the consultancy has submitted a primary report and TEFR in favour of an international airport, the state government has directed the consultancy to submit the DPR. Although around 2,000 acres of land are available in Sabarimala region for the airport development, the state has decided to make use of only around 870 acres at Cheruvally Estate for the airport project.