Navi Mumbai airport to be further delayed

Mumbai: The proposed Navi Mumbai airport is likely to be further delayed, des- pite the Environmental Impact Assessment report for the project having been submitted to the enviornment ministry.
This was confirmed by Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, who said on Monday that his ministry will take time to go through the report before granting necessary clearance.
Speaking at a two-day conference on ‘Global Carbon Budgets and Equity in Climate Change’, at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Ramesh said, “We received the report on June 24.
But there are several infirmities in and the report on public hearings had several objections. The report has therefore been sent back to Valsa Nair, environment secretary, Maharashtra government.
The assessment of the proposed airport was done by Centre of Environment Science and Engineering of IIT-Powai, Central Water and Power Research Station, Pune, and 12 national and international consultants.
The minister said, "As issues raised against the project included the diversion of two rivers, besides destruction of mangroves, we have requested the Maharashtra government to view the project under the Coastal Regulation Zone provisions."
Speaking about the environment, Ramesh said that mangroves should be preserved as they are considered ‘bioshields’ and work against natural disasters like tsunami.
29/06/10 Mumbai Mirror

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Categories: Airports Jun 2010, New Jun 2010