Kerala Govt Identifies Land for Airport at Sabarimala

Kerala Govt has identified Cheruvally Estate for the proposed airport at Sabarimala; but acquiring land will be tricky.

The Pinarayi-led Left Government in Kerala today identified land for an airport at the pilgrimage centre of Sabarimala.

The airport will be located 40 km away from the temple and will come up at Cheruvally Estate, presently owned by Believers’ Church.

The land was identified after a study by the P H Kurien committee and the government approved the same.

But acquiring the land would be tricky. The land was sold by Harrisons Estate to Believers’ Church and this was declared illegal because Harrisons was not the legal owner of the land. Harrisons Estate was located on government land and thus belonged to the government.

The case is now before the High Court.

If the decision favours the government, no compensation need to be paid. Otherwise, the government will have to acquire Cheruvally Estate citing public cause.

Cheruvally estate comprises over 2600 acres.

However, the estate is in an environmentally sensitive area and getting the statutory nod from the environment ministry would be tough.

However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had, in a statement, said that every major pilgrimage centre would be air-linked. Hence the environment ministry will be forced to give its approval.