Thiruvananthapuram: The globe-trotting character of Keralites was emphasised again on Sunday, when the state’s fourth international airport took wings at Kannur. It is also the northernmost airport in the state.
The latest airport hasn’t satisfied the appetite of Keralites for more air-commuting options: minutes into the opening, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan declared the state’s intentions to have a fifth airport.
“We have plans for an airport near Erumely that will also cater to the Sabarimala region, and we need federal clearance for that,” Vijayan said, with Suresh Prabhu, India’s Minister of Civil Aviation, in attendance at the inaugural event.
The airport being planned near Erumely is likely to be located in what is currently a rubber plantation. The proposed airport is unlikely to witness serious environmental obstacles, and is expected to benefit millions of Sabarimala pilgrims, and the numerous non-resident Keralites from Pathanamthitta, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam and Idukki districts.
Controversies take off
The new Kannur International Airport is special, because it is only the second in the state that has been developed through the private-public partnership route, like the Cochin International Airport in Nedumbassery near Kochi. The two other international airports in the state — at Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode — are state-run airports.
Typical of Kerala, the inaugural event of the Kannur airport was not without controversy. Chief Minister Vijayan himself triggered one when he criticised the previous Congress-led government for having caused delays in the project.
We have plans for an airport near Erumely that will also cater to the Sabarimala region, and we need federal clearance for that.
He said little work happened on the airport plan from 2001 to 2006 when the Congress-led United Democratic Front was in power, adding that it was when the V.S. Achuthanandan-led Left Democratic Front government came to power in 2006 that the project got traction.
Former chief minister Oommen Chandy responded that it was in fact a local panchayat, when the Communist Party of India Marxist was in power, that had caused roadblocks for the Kannur airport development.
Chandy and Achuthanandan were not among the invitees, triggering another controversy.
While the inaugural event was on, a supporter of Chandy protested outside the airport holding Chandy’s photo and saying it was unfair that the former chief minister was not invited.
