By Online Desk
CHENNAI: Friday, the Centre objected to an airstrip being built in Idukki. The Centre informed Kerala High Court that permission has not been granted by the Ministry of Environment and Forest for Rs 13 million airstrip at Sathram in the Idukki district.
Environmentalists believe that the airstrip will have a negative impact on the wildlife and ecology in the Periyar Tiger Reserve. The Tiger Reserve is home of rare endemic flora & fauna.
Justice CS Dias of the Kerala High Court and Justice C Jayachandran dealt with a PIL requesting a direction from the state authorities to not proceed with the construction and operation of an airstrip on 4.8565 hectares. This was done without obtaining clearance as required by Section 2 of both the Forest Conservation Act (and the Environmental Clearance).
According to Live LawThe Centre informed the High Court that although permission from Ministry of Forest is required, the state government had not sought permission to build an airstrip at the location.
According to the report, connectivity between wildlife areas is crucial for wildlife movement in order to ensure long-term physical and genetic viability. Linear infrastructure development such as road, rail, canals, pipelines, ropeways, transmission lines, etc. crossing wildlife areas can pose a threat to wildlife dispersal.
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MN Jayachandran is an environmental activist and petitioner. He stated that even though the authorities claim that the airstrip is used for training NCC cadets it is actually being used for small tourist flights. He noted that the Wildlife Protection Act, which prohibits aircraft from flying over protected forest areas, must be amended if they want clearance by MoEF.
Because the runway is close to the border, the aircraft will fly low over the Periyar reserve. Birds will be scared off by the high pitch sound of the aircraft. Jayachandran said that the PTR will cause severe disturbance to wildlife covering 50 km. This will also affect the breeding ecology for tigers.
