Mumbai:
The new airport for Mumbai has been given the final thumbs-up. The Expert Appraisals Committee that was studying the Navi Mumbai airport for environmental impact has cleared the project.
Planned 30 kilometres away from the current Chattrapati Shivaji airport, the location of the Navi Mumbai airport has been a contentious one because of its environmental impact.
After a tug-of-war between the Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh, and the Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel, seemed to have relaxed last month as both shared the terms of a possible compromise.
The plans for the airport have been modified so that one river instead of two will be diverted. Of the 400 acres of mangrove that were originally believed to be in danger, about 100 acres will now be impacted.
The Cities and Industrial Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) has committed to creating a bio-diversity park that covers 250 acres.
The Navi Mumbai airport is scheduled to begin operations in 2013 at Panvel. It's expected to handle an additional 60 million passengers every year.