WII begins work on conservation plan for Jewar airport

GREATER NOIDA: The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has started preparing a work conservation plan for the flora and fauna in and around the proposed Noida international

GREATER NOIDA: The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has started preparing a work conservation plan for the flora and fauna in and around the proposed Noida international greenfield airport in Jewar, along the 165km Yamuna Expressway.

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The project’s nodal agency, Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL), has signed a memorandum of understating with WII on August 30, 2019, for the preparation of a conservation plan that is crucial for obtaining an environment clearance.

In its observations, the Union environment ministry had raised concerns about the damage to ecology, including that to natural ponds, canals and trees, apart from the disturbance to the wildlife — the airport is coming up near wetlands that are home to the state bird, sarus crane, and blackbucks, among others. To protect the ecology, the ministry wants the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority(Yeida) and the NIAL to take preventive measures.

The draft environmental impact assessment (EIA) plan for the airport had said that the area has a good population of sarus cranes and peacocks.

The sarus crane is categorised as a vulnerable species, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classification. It is the state bird of UP and parts of western UP, especially areas around Etawah and Mainpuri, are among the bird’s largest habitat in the world. Surajpur and Dhanauri are two rich wetlands close to Jewar and both are unprotected.

“Pursuant to our agreement, the WII has started collecting details of flora and fauna to prepare a conservation plan. This will pave the way for obtaining an environment clearance from environment ministry,” Shailendra Bhatia, nodal officer, airport project, said.

“The WII will submit an inception report by October-end and a full report by June 2020. We need to get an environment clearance before we can start work on the ground,” Bhatia said.

The draft EIA also stated that flight safety might be at risk if birds come inside the operational area of the airport as they can hit the aircraft. As a mitigation measure, the report said that waste management, green cover maintenance and other steps will be taken to ensure that the bird population of the area does not affect movement of flights.

NIAL and Yeida officials reviewed the progress of the airport project on Thursday and found that all ongoing work is being completed as per the timelines fixed by the government.