Puri airport: Experts flag green concerns

BHUBANESWAR: The State government must pay attention to issues pertaining to environment before moving forward with its decision of setting up an airport in Puri, opined environmentalists.The Orissa Environmental Society made the observation after the visit of a team of experts from Centre to Puri to explore possible sites for construction of the airport. The focus has been on an area near the proposed Shamuka project in the Sipsarubali.

While the government may have considered it fit for construction of an airport in Puri given its importance as a pilgrimage site and tourist destination and its proximity to the Capital city besides Sun Temple at Konark, it must not ignore the steady rise of sea level in the area due to global warming and climate change which are gaining momentum progressively, said the OES. It said that the likelihood of seawater intruding into many coastal cities and other areas of the world including Puri is a matter of grave concern.

The establishment of an airport needs to be planned keeping in view the next 100 years and priority should be given to the future security, said OES Secretary and one of the members of State’s forest fire task force Jaya Krushna Panigrahi.