Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has refuted the charge that his office had misled the centre on the Aranmula airport project. He said that the Ministry of Environment and Forests was aware of the land filling at the project site even as early as in 2011.
The MoEF had sought a clarification on the reclamation of paddy lands and wetlands at the project site on February 16, 2012. The environment principal secretary, in his report, had stated that the KGS Group had filled the wetlands without securing the necessary approvals.
The charge is that the file had a jotting “to be avoided” against a paragraph indicting the company. The industries minister sent the file back to the environment department stating that advance permission was not required for reclamation. After the stand of the industries minister, the environment secretary did a volte face on the issue.
The Chief Minister said that the clarification given by the state government on June 26, 2012 had stated that paddy land had been filled illegally.
But it also pointed out the claim of the promoters that the land was filled by their predecessors. Chandy said that the Expert Appraisal Committee of the MoEF was aware of the land filling by the original owner even earlier.
The EAC, in its report on December 16, 2011 refers to the company’s letter dated June 20, 2011 that mentioned that the original owner of the site had carried out minor developmental works at the site.
Chandy said that this was proof that the EAC had taken into account the land filling issue two months before seeking a clarification from the state.
In the final report given by the EAC on November 18, 2013, it was stated that land filling was the main issue that came up during the public hearing on May 10, 2011.
“All this makes it clear that the EAC was fully aware that land filling had taken place at the project site,” he added.
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