Praful hits out at delays in Mumbai airport work
Civil aviation minister Praful Patel on Friday blasted delays in according environmental clearances for the Navi Mumbai airport project and said that one cannot be “overly obsessive like developed nations” (about adoption of the strictest environment standards). Expressing his “anguish” without naming environment minister Jairam
Ramesh, Mr Patel said “the delay is causing anxiety and damage to the future prospects of Mumbai” and that the time was not far when Mumbai airport would not be able to handle any more flights than the current ones.
The Navi Mumbai airport project, approved by the Union government in July, 2006, is meant to serve as the second airport for Mumbai, since the current airport is almost saturated. But speaking to a TV channel on Friday, Mr Patel said that even four years on, “We are still where we were”.
Arguing for different environment clearance standards for developing countries, he said that “in a developing country like India”, there should be “different yardsticks”. The minister further said, “We cannot be overly obsessive like developed nations” and added that in a situation where new roads and airports have to be built, “there is going to be some degradation of the environment”. However, he added that “this does not mean that we cannot balance it effectively and judiciously”.
Incidentally, in February 2010, Mr Ramesh had told Parliament that environment clearance for the project was not pending with his ministry and that City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd. (CIDCO) — that forwarded the proposal — “needs to submit the Environment Impact Assessment Studies as per the prescribed terms of reference” under the relevant environment rules.
Pointing out that he represented a “forest area” as his constituency in the Lok Sabha, Mr Patel emphasised that he too was “very concerned about the environment” and “passionate about green issues” but that “We have to be innovative in our own way”.
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