Navi Mumbai airport not yet approved: Ramesh

Mumbai: Union Minister of Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday said that his Ministry had not yet given the approval for the Navi Mumbai airport project.
Speaking at a public hearing to take on board the common man in reframing the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules notified in 1991, Mr. Ramesh said: “There is a misconception that my Ministry has approved the airport project. I have only approved the terms of reference for the Environmental Impact Assessment.”
He added that the effort would be to “neutralise the impact” on the tracts of mangroves on the proposed site. People not just from Maharashtra but also from Gujarat participated in the hearing. Taking personal interest in a case of mangrove destruction for the Mundra Port project in Kutch, Mr. Ramesh said that he had decided to scrap the procedure of giving in-principle approvals to projects.
“Only an in-principle approval had been given for the Mundra project [by the previous Ministry],” he said. “This means that certain conditions have to be fulfilled before work can be started. If what you are saying is true, then what is happening is illegal. In my Ministry, there will be no in-principle approvals. Projects will either be approved or rejected.”
13/08/09 Siddhesh Inamdar/The Hindu

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Airports Aug 2009, New Aug 2009