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 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 ...

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 Ca ...

, India. The proposed site is 53.9 km away from Sabarimala temple and 9.2 km away from Kanjirappally town. The site is spread over of land at Cheruvally Estate in

Manimala Manimala is a small town and a village in Kottayam district in the Indian state of Kerala, situated about from the nearest town Kanjirappally. It's declared as a folklore village since 2011 by the central government to promote folklore. Ge ...

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 ...

. 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 3 ...

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 Kannur International Airport is an airport serving the North Malabar region of Kerala, Kodagu and Mysore districts of Karnataka and Mahé district of Puducherry in India. It is located east of Kannur, and east of Thalassery, near the muni ...

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 govern ...

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.

References

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/kial-md-spl-officer-for-sabari-airport-project/articleshow/72464046.cms {{authority control Airports in Kerala Proposed airports in Kerala

Cheruvally Estate

See also

References