Green nod for 2nd city airport likely today

The ambitious Navi Mumbai airport, touted as the solution to Mumbai's flying woes, is likely to get the much-awaited final approval from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests on Monday. HT reports.

The ambitious Navi Mumbai airport, touted as the solution to Mumbai's flying woes, is likely to get the much-awaited final approval from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests on Monday.

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Environment minister Jairam Ramesh is expected to make an announcement to this effect along with Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel and chief minister Prithviraj Chavan in Delhi.

Chavan, who left for the capital on Sunday evening, has a scheduled meeting with Ramesh on Monday.

Sources in the MoEF said the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), the agency implementing the project, had addressed most of the green concerns and the Experts Appraisal Committee, which is scrutinising the project, recommended the approval to Ramesh last week.

However, the approval will come with a strict rider that all environmental concerns must be met post-clearance during the implementation stage.

MoEF is likely to insist on a foreign consultant to handhold the state to carry out all environmental safeguards during the actual construction phase.

It may take another year before the project finally takes off and work contracts are handed out as the proposed changes will take time.