Aranmula: Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy had laughed it off when senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharak Kummanam Rajasekharan joined the anti-airport struggle in this village on the foothills of the Western Ghats in July 2012.
Less than two years down the line, it was Rajasekharan’s turn to chuckle as the Chennai bench of the National Green Tribunal revoked the environmental clearance for the project last week.
The tribunal found the environment impact assessment report for the project lacking on several key aspects, such as the ecological impact of levelling hundreds of acres of paddy fields and wetlands.
It concluded that the private agency that prepared it was not qualified to do so, pulled up the environment and forests ministry for acting in haste, and scrapped the green clearance it had granted.
Celebrations erupted across Aranmula. The joy of humbling the state apart, the victory was a morale booster for the Sangh parivar.
This was the Sangh’s first big victory on the environment front, something that used to be the preserve of the Left through the 1970s and 1980s. The message was clear: saffron was the new green in Kerala.
Read news in full 08/06/14 Ananthakrishnan G/The Telegraph
Less than two years down the line, it was Rajasekharan’s turn to chuckle as the Chennai bench of the National Green Tribunal revoked the environmental clearance for the project last week.
The tribunal found the environment impact assessment report for the project lacking on several key aspects, such as the ecological impact of levelling hundreds of acres of paddy fields and wetlands.
It concluded that the private agency that prepared it was not qualified to do so, pulled up the environment and forests ministry for acting in haste, and scrapped the green clearance it had granted.
Celebrations erupted across Aranmula. The joy of humbling the state apart, the victory was a morale booster for the Sangh parivar.
This was the Sangh’s first big victory on the environment front, something that used to be the preserve of the Left through the 1970s and 1980s. The message was clear: saffron was the new green in Kerala.
Read news in full 08/06/14 Ananthakrishnan G/The Telegraph
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