Thiruvananthapuram: Chief minister Oommen Chandy said on Friday that the state government would not go in appeal against the order of the Chennai bench of the National Green Tribunal cancelling the environment clearance granted to the Rs 2,000-crore Aranmula airport project. “It is up to the promoters (KGS Group) to decide on the appeal,” he said.
“However, the state government would not stand in the way if the promoters secure a favourable verdict from the Supreme Court,” he added.
The government was not opposed to taking up projects without causing harm to environment, he said. “In this case, it is the responsibility of the company to ensure that the project would not cause environmental damage,” Mr Chandy said. The NGT, while revoking the environmental clearance to the project on May 28, observed that Madurai-based Enviro Care, the agency that conducted the environment impact assessment for the project, was not accredited with the ministry of environment and forests. The tribunal also passed a restraining order directing the KGS Group to stop all construction activities in the project area.
It was on November 18, 2013 that the project had received the environment clearance from the ministry of environment and forests.
