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The Kerala government on Wednesday decided to construct the state’s fifth green-field airport at Erumeli in Kottayam district. The airport, which would come up on 2,263-acres of Cheruvalli estate, is expected to give air connectivity to pilgrims of Sabarimala temple, which is 48 km away from the proposed project site. Every year, about 3 crore pilgrims from South Indian states visit the hill shrine during the two-month festival season.
An official communication after a cabinet meeting said that the government has selected Cheruvalli estate for the airport project, based on the recommendations of a four-member committee headed by Additional Chief Secretary P H Kurian. The idea for a new airport project in Kerala stemmed from the realisation that the proposed Aranmula airport project in Pathanamthitta failed to take off.
