Sabarimala Greenfield Airport
also known as Cheruvally Estate Airport
or Believers' Church Airport
is a proposed
greenfield airport
A greenfield airport is an aviation facility with greenfield project characteristics. The designation reflects certain environmental qualities (using previously undeveloped or empty greenfield land, for example) and commissioning, planning and cons ...
project to be built in
Erumely
Erumely, also spelt "Erumeli" is a panchayat in the southeast part of Kottayam district in Kerala state, India. Erumely is situated 49 km east of Kottayam town and 133 km North of capital city Trivandrum. It is situated on the way to Sa ...
of
Kottayam
Kottayam () is a municipal town in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south-we ...
district in
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
, India. The proposed site is 53.9 km away from
Sabarimala temple
The Sabarimala Temple (; ml, ശബരിമല ക്ഷേത്രം) is a temple complex located at Sabarimala hill inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve in the Perinad Village, Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, India. It is one of the largest a ...
and 9.2 km away from
Kanjirappally town. The site is spread over of land at Cheruvally Estate in
Manimala panchayath, Kanjirappally Taluk.
It is also 136 km from state capital
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...
and 113 km from
Kochi
Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...
. Once commissioned, this would be the fifth airport in the State. In February 2017, the Kerala government gave in-principle approval to construct the airport and the
Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation
Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. is the industrial and investment promotion agency of the Government of Kerala (India), for the promotion and development of medium and large scale units in the State of Kerala. As the Nodal A ...
(KSIDC) was asked to conduct a feasibility study.
The Sabarimala temple, situated on the Western Ghats in Kerala's
Pathanamthitta
Pathanamthitta (), is a municipality situated in the Central Travancore region in the state of Kerala, India, spread over an area of 23.50 km2. It is the administrative capital of Pathanamthitta district. The town has a population of 37 ...
district, is one of India's holiest shrines which attracts nearly 50 million visitors per season. As of December 2019, an average of 75,000 pilgrims visit Sabarimala on a daily basis ever since the beginning of the annual pilgrim season in mid-November. Presently the only way to reach the hill shrine is by road. The increase in the number of pilgrims visiting the temple had prompted the government to look at an airport as an option to reduce traffic congestion during the pilgrimage season.
KSIDC had issued global tenders for the feasibility study of the project. The tender was won by American Consultancy firm
Louis Berger Group
Louis Berger (formerly known as Berger Group Holdings) is a full-service engineering, architecture, planning, environmental, program and construction management and economic development firm based in Morristown, New Jersey. Founded in 1953 in H ...
.
Louis Berger submitted a techno-economic feasibility study and
environmental impact assessment
Environmental Impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the term "environmental imp ...
of the proposed greenfield airport in December 2018. However, the consultancy did not conduct the environment impact assessment (EIA) as the state had not taken a final decision on the project including that of land acquisition.
In 2019, the state government constituted a search committee to select a special officer for the project who would be given the task of coordinating with the consultancy in acquiring environment impact clearances and for the
Union civil aviation ministry’s approval for the project.
In December 2019, the state government appointed V Thulasidas, managing director of the
Kannur International Airport Ltd (KIAL) as the special officer for the project.
Cheruvally Estate
The site for the proposed airport is Cheruvally Estate, formerly the site of a rubber plantation. Initially, the estate belonged to Harrison plantations and later by the RPG Goenka group. Gospel for Asia, a Christian missionary organization under
Believers Eastern Church
Believers Eastern Church (previously Believers Church) is an Oriental Protestant Church of Indian origin with congregations and parishes worldwide. It is also a branch of the ministry Gospel for Asia. The church now follows an episcopal governa ...
took it over from the Goenka group.
The ownership of the property was disputed in 2017 before the
High Court of Kerala
The High Court of Kerala is the highest court in the Indian state of Kerala and the Union territory of Lakshadweep. It is located in Kochi. Drawing its powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the High Court has the power to issu ...
claiming that the Estate was government land.
A 2018 High Court order affirmed the church's ownership of the Estate.
See also
*
Aranmula International Airport
Aranmula International Airport was an airport project planned to be built at Aranmula, Pathanamthitta district of Kerala in India, at a cost of . The airport never received the necessary clearances and the project was abandoned. The airport was ...
*
List of airports in Kerala
Kerala state has four operational international airports as of 2019 and is the only Indian state to have four international airports along with Tamil Nadu. Kerala is also the only state with the closest proximity to multiple international/domesti ...
*
Believers Eastern Church
Believers Eastern Church (previously Believers Church) is an Oriental Protestant Church of Indian origin with congregations and parishes worldwide. It is also a branch of the ministry Gospel for Asia. The church now follows an episcopal governa ...
References
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/kial-md-spl-officer-for-sabari-airport-project/articleshow/72464046.cms
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Airports in Kerala
Proposed airports in Kerala