Mumbai:
The Civil aviation and environment ministers may have buried the hatchet on the Navi Mumbai Airport project...but in Mumbai the debate is still on. Environmentalists are unhappy with signs of a compromise but many feel Mumbai desperately needs a second international airport.
When Jairam Ramesh and Praful Patel addressed a joint press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday, it was clear, the proverbial thaw had happened. The two warring ministers, who for months could not see eye to eye on the Navi Mumbai airport project, had worked out a compromise formula.
This after the Maharashtra government came up with a new plan to avoid diverting the Gadhi river at the site, and spare the bulk of the 400 hectare mangrove belt.
But environmentalists are unhappy with the impending compromise.
Debi Goenka of the Conservation Action Trust told NDTV, "If one river won't be diverted and the other may still have to, how does it address the environmental concerns? What about the environmental concerns over blasting the hill, the Karnala bird sanctuary, Matheran and Elephanta? What happens to the problem of land reclamation? It is rather curious that every time there is a question of land in the CRZ area, the MoEF raises a stink over this. So, how then, can this land even be considered for approval?"
While Greens are fuming others say the city desperately needs a second airport. Already congested, the existing Mumbai airport, with a carrying capacity of 40 million passengers, is expected to reach saturation point by 2013. The new airport is expected to handle 60 million passengers.
Gerson da Cunha of Bombay First says, "What has been agreed to is the best that could have been done. One worries about the disturbances caused by the aircrafts, but then a compromise has its downside. The Delhi airport has managed to stay ahead of its demand because it increased its capacity. Mumbai has not increased its airport capacity for the last 14 years. Our demand exceeded the capacity a long time ago and since then it has been in a state of desperation. Every traveller has a first-hand experience of delays, congestion and circling and the airport has been unable to deal with it. That's a crucial area of concern."
The final call on the project now is expected by the first week of November, a resolution to one of the city's most keenly debated projects.
When Jairam Ramesh and Praful Patel addressed a joint press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday, it was clear, the proverbial thaw had happened. The two warring ministers, who for months could not see eye to eye on the Navi Mumbai airport project, had worked out a compromise formula.
This after the Maharashtra government came up with a new plan to avoid diverting the Gadhi river at the site, and spare the bulk of the 400 hectare mangrove belt.
But environmentalists are unhappy with the impending compromise.
Debi Goenka of the Conservation Action Trust told NDTV, "If one river won't be diverted and the other may still have to, how does it address the environmental concerns? What about the environmental concerns over blasting the hill, the Karnala bird sanctuary, Matheran and Elephanta? What happens to the problem of land reclamation? It is rather curious that every time there is a question of land in the CRZ area, the MoEF raises a stink over this. So, how then, can this land even be considered for approval?"
While Greens are fuming others say the city desperately needs a second airport. Already congested, the existing Mumbai airport, with a carrying capacity of 40 million passengers, is expected to reach saturation point by 2013. The new airport is expected to handle 60 million passengers.
Gerson da Cunha of Bombay First says, "What has been agreed to is the best that could have been done. One worries about the disturbances caused by the aircrafts, but then a compromise has its downside. The Delhi airport has managed to stay ahead of its demand because it increased its capacity. Mumbai has not increased its airport capacity for the last 14 years. Our demand exceeded the capacity a long time ago and since then it has been in a state of desperation. Every traveller has a first-hand experience of delays, congestion and circling and the airport has been unable to deal with it. That's a crucial area of concern."
The final call on the project now is expected by the first week of November, a resolution to one of the city's most keenly debated projects.
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