Airport: CM writes to Centre for eco clearance

BANGALORE: The prestigious Rs 1,150 crore Bangalore International Airport at Devanahalli still does not have clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.
The airport development agreement is about to be signed with the private Seimens Ventures-led international consortium. In an effort to ensure that the MoEF clearance -- a pre-requisite for such infrastructure projects -- comes through as soon as possible, Chief Minister S.M.Krishna wrote to Union Environment Minister V. Baalu on Monday requesting him to expedite the process.
Krishna said: ``Bangalore is the fifth largest metropolis in the country and has been in the forefront in aeronautics, space, IT and the knowledge sectors. Despite this, the city does not have a full-fledged civilian airport. The Government of Karnataka has been striving to establish a modern international airport for Bangalore since long. In January 2000, the Union Cabinet has approved the project.''''
Explaining the measures taken to get the project off the ground, Krishna has said: ``Most of the project clearances have been received. We are awaiting environmental clearance from the MoEF. All the steps and procedures required have been complied with.''''
Krishna pointed out that since the new airport will be 30 km away from the city, the environmental impact would be much lesser than that of the existig HAL airport. ``Nevertheless, all the concerns of the MoEF have been appropriately and adequately addressed. I want to assure you that all safeguards would be built in to make the airport environment-friendly in every sense of the word,'''' he said.
The Karnataka government is committed to the project. ``We are keen that the construction work at the site commences at the earliest,'''' he said.
Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee did a virtual bhoomi pooja for the project in January 2001. A year later, the share-holders agreement between the Karnataka government, Airports Authority of India and the private international consortium was signed in January 2002.
Financial closure for the project is expected in September, with construction scheduled for October 2002 and commercial operations in the latter half of 2005.