Aranmula Airport Issue: Kerala BJP supports Gadgil Committee report

KOCHI: The Kerala unit of the Bharatiya Janatha Party has announced that it would support the Gadgil Committee report on the conservation of Western Ghats and oppose a proposal to build an airport at Aranmula, in Pathnamthitta district of the state.

Making its stand clear on some of the key development issues in the state BJP president V Muralidharan said that his unit would appraise the new BJP-led government at the Centre about its stand on the two issues. He said that the Gadgil Committee report is better suited for conservation of Western Ghats as it can address concerns of farmers more effectively, compared to the Kasturirangan Committee report. The party’s earlier stand was that the Kasturirangan Committee report was not necessary. The Gadgil Committee report was better suited to address issues in the region. There is no change in this stand, he said.

Led by the Catholic Church, people in the high-range districts of the state had voiced their strong protest against the recommendations of the Gadgil Committee. The agitation continued against the Kasturirangan Committee report also, though it had watered down some of the main recommendations made earlier.

The BJP leader said that the state unit was also against the Aranmula airport project. The project involves filling of wetlands.

The state unit of the party is against such a policy.

Muralidharan added that as soon as the new government is formed at the Centre, the party would send a delegation to meet representatives of the new government to discuss some key development issues.