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| Sabarimala temple, Kerala business-standard.com |
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| Sabarimala shrine, Kerala. newindianexpress.com |
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| Proposed Sabarimala airport. thehindu.com |
Among the famous Hindu shrines of India, the Sabarimala temple, located on the picturesque Western Ghats in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district, is a popular one. Reported to have attracted roughly 50 million devotees every season, this unique temple built in a remote place is dedicated to lord Ayyappa or Sasatha and can be accessed only by ghat road on a rough hilly terrain. That almost very day about 70000 to 75000 people visit this holy shrine in December month alone will tell you about the importance of this old temple and the divinity attached to it. The peak annual pilgrim season is November and December and lots of devotees from across India, in particular, from the southern states, after observing certain ''vratham'' (fasting, daily puja, etc) as per temple convention/protocol, undertake the strenuous pilgrimage to this holy place.by way of hiking barefoot on the hilly terrain. Since lots of middle aged and elderly people participate in this pilgrimage and further there has been an increase in the number of pilgrims in the past few years, a section of devotees wanted the state government to have an airport built on the ghat. Their contention is two fold, it will reduce heavy crowds and help the elderly people visit the shrine during the pilgrim season without having to use the rough trail and the other one is it will reduce the travel time.
After considerable debate in the state assembly in February 2017, the Kerala government gave in-principle approval to construct the airport and the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) was entrusted with a feasibility study. Louis Berger Consulting Private Limited, was to prepare the detailed project report. The proposed greenfield airport in Manimala of Kottayam district will cover a large spread of over 2,263 acres (9.16 km2) of land at Cheruvally Estate in Manimala panchayath, Kanjirappally Taluk. It is on the way to the Sabarimala temple, 136 km from state capital Thiruvanathapuram and 113 km from Kochi. The Hindu reported (14 June, 2020) that the government had decided to initiate steps to acquire land from the private estate in the Kottayam-Pathanamthitta border, close to (2.5 km) the Theni-Kottarakara National Highway, near Erumeli town. The project had to get mandatory clearance from the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), soil survey and other surveys from the Central government, New Delhi.
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| site of proposed Sabarimala airport, Kerala onmanorama.com |
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| The Cheruvally Estate,, Kerala.onmanorama.com |
The site for the proposed Sabarimala airport is an Estate; it used to be a rubber plantation initially owned by Harrison Malayalam plantations. Later the RPG Goenka group got the control and ran the plantation for some period. Presently, it is under the Gospel for Asia, a Christian missionary organization under Believers' Church. The proposed site is a disputed one. In 2017, case had been filed in 2017 regarding the ownership before the High Court of Kerala claiming that the Estate was government land. However, a 2018 High Court order affirmed the church's ownership of the Estate. In 2013, a govt. committee headed by one M.G. Rajamanikam said the Marrison Malayalam 's acquisition of land is illegal, The state government's attempt to take over the land was struck down by the court. Presently, the dispute over the ownership is before a civil court and remains unresolved.
Sabarimalai Ayyappa Seva Samajam is highly critical of the Cheruvally Estate purportedly owned by the Christian group. It observed,'' It’s illegal to claim that Believers Church had purchased from Harrison Malayalam company the Cheruvally Estate which was supposed to be taken over by the government following the termination of lease agreement with Harrison Malayalam. Since the high court has already ordered the government to take over the said land, it would be illegal and wrong on the part of the government to pay compensation to someone who claims ownership of the estate.'' ............ (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/samajam-flays-payout-for-cheruvally-estate/articleshow/76499120.cms}
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