Public hearing conducted for environmental clearance of Jammu airport expansion project

Jammu, Dec 30 (PTI) The Jammu and Kashmir Pollution Control Committee on Friday conducted a public hearing here as part of environmental clearance process for expansion of civil enclave at the Jammu airport with an area of 40,000 square metres, an official said.

Over 122 acres of land has been identified to be handed over to the Airport Authority of India to build a state-of-the-art new terminal building at the Jammu airport.

The public hearing was attended by a large number of people including representatives of the Animal Husbandry Department, prominent citizens and residents of Belicharan, Basheer Gujjar Basti, Doda Basti, Poonch Basti villages besides officials of the Airport Authority, Cantonment Board and officers of the revenue department, the official said.

A major chunk of the land identified for the airport expansion project belonged to the Animal Husbandry Department, which has been allotted alternative land at Nagrota for relocation of offices and poultry.

The panel comprising Additional Deputy Commissioner, Jammu, Harvinder Singh, Regional Director J-K Pollution Control Committee, Jammu, Sat Paul and Divisional Officer, J-K Pollution Control Committee, Jammu-South, Arshad Nazir Malik, heard the issues raised by the public and answered their questions, the official said.

He said the entire proceedings were video graphed for onward submission to J-K Environmental impact Assessment Authority (JKEIAA).

The official said a detailed public discussion and expression of opinions was held on various aspects of the plan and other general issues concerning the public living around the proposed expansion site.

The project proponent proposed to adopt various measures during and after the construction of the project like air pollution control measures, rainwater harvesting, Installation of sewage treatment plant and firefighting equipment, he said.