Thiruvananthapuram (The Hawk): In Kerala, where there are already four international airports, the state government approved on Saturday the acquisition of property for the construction of a fifth airport in the Kottayam district, close to the famous Sabarimala temple.
According to the order from the Revenue Department, 2,570 acres of land between Erumeli South and Manimala will be taken. The proposed airport will be located in the Cheruvally Rubber Estate.
The order states that 307 acres of property must also be purchased outside the rubber estate.
The airport will be 48 kilometres from the airport in Sabarimala airport and have a 3,500-meter runway.
The nodal organisation for all of the preliminary work, including acquiring the property, has been designated as the state-run KSIDC.
The Believers Church, which has its headquarters in Thiruvalla, owns the Cheruvally estate, and the ownership of the estate has long been a source of contention between the various governments.
The state government has consistently denied that this land was originally theirs.
Long-running legal battles regarding the estate's ownership have occurred between the current owners and various state governments.
In 2016, then-Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju gave Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan his informal sanction for moving through with plans to construct an airport close to the Sabarimala temple.
There has been a need for an airport to serve the pilgrims travelling to Sabarimala, and under the Oommen Chandy government (2011–2016), a private player's proposal to develop an airport near Aranmula in the Pathanamthitta district became entangled in a number of local concerns.
The Vijayan government terminated the previous approval for the Aranmula airport after taking power in 2016, and a suitable piece of land in the same area has finally been found.
Applications for many clearances will begin after the land is seized.
(Inputs from Agencies)