Give up airport project: BJP.

Bharatiya Janata Party national executive member V. Muraleedharan has demanded that the State government relinquish its proposal to set up an airport at Erumeli by acquiring the 2,200-acre Cheruvally Estate owned by K.P. Yohannan.

In an open letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here on Sunday, Mr. Muraleedharan said that if the government decided to go ahead with the proposal, it would set right the alleged irregularities in the sale of the estate by Harrison Malayalam and also establish the ownership of the individual on the land. It would also deprive the right of the government on 5-lakh hectares of revenue land being occupied by private plantation companies in the State. Even if the price was estimated at Rs. 5,000 for a cent of land, it would incur a loss of Rs. 25,000 crore. This would also help private companies legitimise their ownership on the land held by them at present.

He alleged that the government had promised to give 10 per cent shares to K.P. Yohannan in the proposed airport project.

The litigation on the land possessed by Harrisons Malayalam is pending before the court. He requested the government to give up the proposal for the airport.

THE HINDU