New Delhi, Oct. 26: Decks have been cleared for construction of a second airport for Mumbai at Navi Mumbai, with the environment minister, Mr Jairam Ramesh and the civil aviation minister, Mr Praful Patel holding a meeting on Tuesday in which “good progress” was made in resolving various issues.
A final decision on clearance by the environment ministry will be taken next month after a two-day meeting of the ministry’s Expert Appraisal Commit-tee on November 9 and 10.
Mr Ramesh said that he was satisfied to the extent of “65 to 70 per cent.” Both the ministries exhibited flexibility during the talks on Tuesday. The environment ministry was satisfied after the Maharashtra government and civil aviation ministry agreed that the Gadhi river would not be diverted. The environment ministry was also happy after Mr Patel agreed to re-location of some of the proposed non-aeronautical assets near the site.
Mr Ramesh was also satisfied with the assurance of Mr Patel that the “good quality mangroves would be preserved” and creation of bio-diversity zone.