Thiruvananthapuram
Tens of thousands of Kerala expatriates working around the world and millions of pilgrims who make an annual pilgrimage to the Sabarimala temple in the state are hopeful once more as talks are afoot for a new international airport in Kottayam or Pathanamthitta district.
The airport is likely to be established near Erumely, the gateway to the Sabarimala temple in Pathanamthitta district.
If a formal announcement regarding the airport comes soon, it will be an ideal Christmas gift for millions of people in the area.
The airport will benefit expatriates from Kerala’s Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Idukki and Alappuzha districts, who now have no option but to land at the Kochi or Thiruvananthapuram airport and take the expensive and time-consuming road journey to reach home.
The new airport is seen to be a necessity for people in the central Travancore area, who make up a significant percentage of the Kerala expatriates around the world.
Hopes for a new airport have blossomed after a New Delhi-based entity, Global Indian Association revealed that it had met state chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and presented a feasibility study for the proposed airport.
The association, which is backed by Keralites in India and abroad, is planning to buy land from a private estate company and then hand it over to the state government for construction of the airport. The project cost is estimated to be roughly Rs25 billion, which includes the cost of land.
The Poonjar MLA, P.C. George has also pitched for an international airport in the area.
If the airport project materialises, it will be the fifth international airport in Kerala after Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode and Kannur airports.
The Kannur airport, which was hastily inaugurated when the previous UDF government was in power, is nearing completion.
The proposed airport near Erumely comes to the limelight in the backdrop of the diminishing prospects for the Aranmula airport, which has been on the drawing board for nearly a decade. Protests by local residents and environmental activists have stalled the Aranamula airport project.
