Second airport plan clears another hurdle

The proposed Rs 9,000-crore international airport at Navi Mumbai has traversed another hurdle with the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority formally clearing the project.

The clearance comes in the wake of amendments in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) that now allow building an airport in the ecologically sensitive areas. But this approval comes with an important rider — the government has to take care of mangroves spread over 150 hectares of land.

T.C. Benjamin, secretary, Urban Development, said: “There are certain caveats like planting double the number of mangroves on some other part of the land before clearing the area for the proposed airport.”