Adani gets environmental nod for luxury airport hotel in Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change cleared a Rs 136-crore luxury hotel proposal by Adani Airport Holdings Ltd within the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport premises.
The approval followed a detailed review by the Expert Appraisal Committee (Infra-2) during its August meeting, sources said on Tuesday.
The project, spread across a little over 8,000 sq m inside the airport area, includes a 240-room hotel with food-and-beverage facilities offering 660 seats.
According to official documents, the site is currently used as an open parking area within the airport, operated by the Adani Group.
The land was handed over to the Adani Group’s airport arm under a long-term concession agreement signed with the Airports Authority of India in January 2021.
The proposed five-storey structure will have a height of 23 metres, with two basement levels for parking, a ground floor and four upper floors. The total built-up area is estimated at nearly 34,000 sq m.
Authorities said the project would rely on treated water from an on-site sewage treatment plant, with recycling expected to meet about half of its daily water requirement.
Solid waste will be managed through organic-waste converters and authorised recyclers.
Around 40 existing trees at the site will be transplanted within the airport premises. The developer has earmarked space for a green belt and plans to adopt measures aimed at reducing energy consumption by up to 20 per cent.
The ministry noted that the site does not fall within any eco-sensitive or forest areas and that the proposal faces no pending court cases.
It also said the clearance was processed at the central level due to the temporary absence of the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority in Kerala.
The project, estimated to cost Rs 136 crore, is expected to take about three years to complete.
Officials said the development could create around 300 direct jobs and support nearly 900 indirect jobs, adding that the hotel is intended to enhance passenger amenities and boost the city’s tourism sector.
A source said the five-star hotel is part of Adani Group’s broader 'City Side Development' plan for Thiruvananthapuram.
The company expects the facility to serve air travellers as well as foreign crew arriving on large cargo vessels docking at the Vizhinjam port, which is operated by the group.
Recently, the union government allocated an immigration counter at the Vizhinjam International Seaport, enabling crew-change operations and potentially spurring further development in the region.
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Trouble ‘Miyas’ everywhere only then they will leave Assam: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Says “Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP are openly against them, we are saying it openly
New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that four to five lakh “Miya voters” would be removed from the electoral rolls in the state once the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists is carried out. He also made a series of controversial remarks openly targeting the Miya community, a term commonly used in Assam in a derogatory sense to refer to Bengali-speaking Muslims.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an official programme in Digboi in Tinsukia district, Sarma said it was his responsibility to create difficulties for the Miya community and claimed that both he and the BJP were “directly against Miyas”.
“Four to five lakh Miya votes will have to be deleted in Assam when the SIR happens,” Sarma said, adding that such voters “should ideally not be allowed to vote in Assam, but in Bangladesh”. He asserted that the government was ensuring that they would not be able to vote in the state.
The chief minister was responding to questions about notices issued to thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims during the claims and objections phase of the ongoing Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls in Assam. While the Election Commission is conducting SIR exercises in 12 states and Union Territories, Assam is currently undergoing an SR, which is usually meant for routine updates.
Calling the current SR “preliminary”, Sarma said that a full-fledged SIR in Assam would lead to large-scale deletion of Miya voters. He said he was unconcerned about criticism from opposition parties over the issue.
“Let the Congress abuse me as much as they want. My job is to make the Miya people suffer,” Sarma said. He claimed that complaints filed against members of the community were done on his instructions and that he had encouraged BJP workers to keep filing complaints.
“I have told people wherever possible they should fill Form 7 so that they have to run around a little and are troubled,” he said, adding that such actions were meant to send a message that “the Assamese people are still living”.
In remarks that drew further outrage, Sarma urged people to trouble members of the Miya community in everyday life, claiming that “only if they face troubles will they leave Assam”. He also accused the media of sympathising with the community and warned journalists against such coverage.
“So you all should also trouble, and you should not do news that sympathise with them. There will be love jihad in your own house.” He said.
The comments triggered reactions from opposition leaders. Raijor Dal president and MLA Akhil Gogoi said the people of Assam had not elected Sarma to keep one community under constant pressure. Congress leader Aman Wadud accused the chief minister of rendering the Constitution meaningless in the state, saying his remarks showed a complete disregard for constitutional values.
According to the draft electoral rolls published on December 27, Assam currently has 2.51 crore voters. Election officials said 4.78 lakh names were marked as deceased, 5.23 lakh as having shifted, and 53,619 duplicate entries were removed during the revision process. Authorities also claimed that verification had been completed for over 61 lakh households.
On January 25, six opposition parties the Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(M-L) submitted a memorandum to the state’s chief electoral officer. They alleged widespread legal violations, political interference and selective targeting of genuine voters during the SR exercise, describing it as arbitrary, unlawful and unconstitutional.
