Navi Mumbai airport's fate to be decided by 2010

NEW DELHI: The fate of Navi Mumbai���s proposed international airport would be decided early next year after IIT, Bombay, completes a comprehensive study on the environmental impact of the project in the region including a public hearing, the Union environment ministry has said.

���We have not approved the project. But we have only approved the term of reference (ToR) for its environmental impact assessment that includes public hearing,��� Union environment minister Jairarm Ramesh said on the sidelines of a function recently.

Additional secretary of the environment ministry JM Mauskar said the fate of the project will be decided early next year when the institute submits its study. The study will have international experts on its panel. The project proponent City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) of Maharashtra has also been asked to conduct a public hearing as mandated by the law.

An expert committee of the Union ministry last month handed out a long list of ToR to Cidco to complete before seeking approval for the project.

The airport to be spread over 1,615 ha and having a total area of 2,800 ha is expected to come up near Panvel, about 35 km from the existing Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, with an investment of around Rs 10,000 crore.
The airport is proposed to meet the capacity of 10 million passengers per year which is expected to grow to up to 50 million by 2030.

Before execution of work on Navi Mumbai airport, details of environmentally sensitive places, land acquisition status, rehabilitation of communities and villages and current status of such activities, have to be studied by the project panel.

About 3,000 families of 10 settlements from seven villages falling within the airport zone are proposed to be rehabilitated as per the rehabilitation policy prepared for the project. One of the terms of reference of the study is to find ways to neutralise the impact of destruction of the mangroves in the area.

���Two rivers are proposed for diversion, therefore, a scientific study should be conducted to explain the quality and quantity of ground water in the impact zone,��� the panel said. It would also seek details of impact of sea level rise by the project in the next 100 years.

Since building construction activities are also included in the project activities, water requirement, sewage disposal and treatment, electrical load and energy conservation measures among others should also be part of the environment assessment report, the ministry told Cidco.