That is the unmistakable import of the message delivered by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which set aside environmental clearance for the controversial Aranmula airport project. The NGT order, which came in response to a slew of appeals made against the project by the CPI, CPI(M), Aranmula Heritage Village Action Council and Aranmula residents Sreeranganathan and K. K. Royson, sets aside the green signal given by the Union Environment and Forests Ministry for the Rs 2000-crore project.

The order represents a morale-boosting victory for the ecologists and environmentalists led by eminent poetess Sugathakumari. It also constitutes a resounding rebuff to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and the UDF Government headed by him who sought to arrogantly brush aside the strong opposition by all sections of the people to the airport project.

What compounds the offence of the KGS group, the promoter of the Aranmula project, is the fact that no proper public hearing was conducted which was mandatory for every project. The NGT order also said that Envirocare, the agency that conducted the Environmental Impact Study, did not have the requisite credentials stipulated by the Quality Council of India!

The UDF Government is now trying to pass the buck to the erstwhile LDF Government on the ground that it was the Achuthanandan Government which gave in-principle approval for the airport project. If the VS government had made a mistake in doing that, the Oommen Chandy Government should have undone the damage by initiating corrective measures. Not only did the Chandy Government do that, what is unpardonable was that it aggressively pushed for the project by even passing a Cabinet resolution to take 10 per cent equity in the move. Not surprisingly, the move evoked strong criticism that it was an unabashed attempt to provide legal cover to expedite the conversion of paddy lands for non-agricultural purposes.

The Chandy Government shocked one and all by ignoring the recommendations made by the Legislative Assembly Committee headed by Congress MLA, C. P. Mohammed. The committee found the airport project highly detrimental to the environment. It also sought to ignore the report submitted in March 2013 by the Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB), which voiced strong reservations over the changes in land use and the resultant ecological imbalance construction of the airport would entail. The Board also said that 80 per cent of the 500 acres earmarked for the project were paddy fields. Conversion of the paddy fields would have impacted the wetlands, disturbed the food chain and accelerated the depletion of fish resources and other flora and fauna in the Pamba river basin.

Significantly, CPI leader Atul Anjan and CPI(M) leader M. M. Mani had alleged, way back in February 2013, that the then Defence Minister A. K. Antony favoured the Aranmula project because of the involvement of Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra!

A shame-faced UDF Government has decided not to challenge the NGT order. The Chief Minister said the Government would not, however, oppose if the KSG Group manages to obtain a favourable decision by appealing against the NGR order.

In the wake of the NGT order, the Chandy Government will find it hard to explain its role in promoting the project, ignoring the strong public sentiment against the project, which would have forced the historic Aranmula Parthasarathy temple to reduce the height of its mast – a development which would have hurt the religious sentiments of the people of the area.

The verdict has touched off a wave of jubilation in Aranmula. It is celebratory time not only for the local residents who spearheaded an agitation, which had entered the 108th day but also for the ecologists and environmentalists. The mood was summed up by former chief of Kerala Biodiversity Board, Dr. V. S. Vijayan, on whose report the NGT had relied greatly before passing the historic order. “This is a historic verdict for conservation of wetlands and green zones in the state that is being eyed by the real estate groups. The Government should now seriously reconsider the proposed amendments to the Paddy and Wetlands Act, which will destroy acres and acres of wetlands in the state,” opined Dr. Vijayan.

Poetess Sugathakumari, who spearheaded the 108-day agitation against the project, said the verdict is a victory for the people and a triumph of the Green Philosophy.

Incidentally, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president, V. M. Sudheeran has already voiced his strong opposition to the proposed amendments to the Paddy and Wetlands Act. “The verdict is a warning to all investors who try to bypass the legal route to manage their needs. It also sends out a strong message that transparent studies are necessary before sanctioning any development project,” Sudheeran opined. Will the Chief Minister heed the sage advice given by Dr. Vijayan, Sugathakumari and the KPCC chief? (IPA Service)