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Navi Mumbai airport gets 250 hectare forest land

The Maharashtra government should nominate the same for the Ramsar site, the NBWL has recommended.

Mumbai: In a shot in the arm for the Navi Mumbai international airport, the Maharashtra government has allocated 250 hectare forest land in Raigad district to the project.

However, the National Board of Wild Life (NBWL) has recommended a few conditions such as the airport not using airspace above Karnala Bird Sanctuary (KBS), an alternative site to be set up for migratory birds visiting wetlands and so on.

As per NBWL conditions, “Air traffic at the airport should not use airspace above KBS. The annual report baseline survey of avian fauna in and around the airport produced by BNHS has suggested, though not sufficient enough, conservation measures within a 10km radius of the airport. The potential wild habitat (wetlands, forests and mangroves) which falls within the 10km eco-sensitive zones of KBS should also be considered for implementing conservation measures.”

The NBWL has also recommended that an alternative site for migratory birds visiting wetlands be considered and developed within the proposed airport site.

The Sewri coast wetland of 1,037 hectare is a marshland protected from the Arabian Sea near the mouth of the Thane creek. Thousands of flamingos and many other migratory water birds inhabit this marshland.

The Maharashtra government should nominate the same for the Ramsar site, the NBWL has recommended.

In a bid to compensate for dense mangroves towards north of the airport site, the NBWL has recommended that the mangrove forest bordering the airport site be declared a mangrove sanctuary.

In its latest decision, the revenue and forest department has agreed to allocate 250 hectare forest land to the Navi Mumbai airport as the project is in the larger public interest.

The land falls in the Khandeshwar-Panvel area which houses 12 villages. A government resolution in this regard has already been issued on July 11.

Ready to take off

The Navi Mumbai international airport will be the second airport in the city to be built near Panvel. The project worth '16,000 crore has been mired in environment norm-related controversy due to which it has been delayed. However, the project is now back on track and the state government has announced that the first flying from the airport will be in 2019.

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