The Shree Jagannath International Airport was given in-principle approval by the Union Civil Aviation Ministry on May 5, and it will cost an estimated Rs 5,631 crore. The Odisha government’s commerce and transport department is the project proponent, and the project area is spread over 471.34 hectares, of which 27.85 hectares is forest land.

The EAC’s recommendation for the grant of environmental clearance comes days after the forest advisory committee (FAC) deferred granting forest clearance for the project. The FAC deferred the project clearance, citing concerns that its regional office raised over the proposed airport’s likely impact on olive ridley turtles and Irrawaddy dolphins as well as the impact of felling 13,000 trees on the Puri coastline, which is vulnerable to frequent cyclones.

The EAC had also made specific recommendations on the protection of olive ridley turtles and migratory birds. A subcommittee of the EAC had visited the project site in April this year to inspect site conditions and made specific recommendations regarding ecological, cultural and wildlife concerns.

The subcommittee had said that with olive ridley turtles nesting around the Puri coast, the Odisha government should prepare a comprehensive study report on the issue and provide a management plan. Like the FAC, the EAC asked to study the likely impact of the airport on migratory birds that fly to Chilika Lake.

Based on these submissions, the EAC directed the Odisha government to submit an assessment report study to the ministry’s regional office on how it will manage olive ridley turtles and dolphins found in coastal areas near the project site.

The Odisha government has engaged the Estuarine Biology Regional Centre, Gopalpur, of the Zoological Survey of India, to study olive ridley turtle nesting and migratory birds. Lakhs of migratory birds use the flyway or migratory routes along the Puri coast to use Chilika Lake as a stopover site.

Additionally, with the Shree Jagannath Temple within 10 km of the airport site, the state government has to submit a no-objection certificate from the Archaeological Survey of India. The EAC also recommended the building of cyclone shelters. “As the proposed project area is vulnerable to tsunami and cyclones as it lies on the coastal belt of Bay of Bengal… EAC desired that cyclone shelters shall be planned as part of mitigation measures outside and inside of the airport complex,” the EAC stated.

In May 2019, Cyclone Fani had made landfall between Satapada (near Chilika Lake) and Puri, with sustained surface wind speeds of 175-180 km per hour, causing deaths and damage to the town.

The EAC on infrastructure projects is one among 13 sectoral panels that are constituted by the environment ministry to scrutinise proposals and appraise them for their environmental impact, under provisions of the Environmental Impact Assessment notification, 2006.

The ministry takes the final call on the grant or rejection of the final environmental clearance. The FAC, meanwhile, scrutinises proposals for diversion of forest land for non-forestry purposes such as development and infrastructure projects, under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980.

The concerned expert panel, which granted its recommendation for the Puri airport, scrutinises only proposals of airports, waste treatment plants, effluent treatment plants, buildings and constructions, and townships, under provisions of the Environment Impact Assessment notification, 2006.