The union aviation ministry has given a 'yes nod' to Sabarimala Airport. The Cheruvally estate was termed 'best fit' while a site clearance was also approved which connects the dots to the long-stalled story. Still, it is too early to celebrate. The environment ministry’s approval remains a fire test for the airport to turn into reality. According to a 2013 law, a survey with a proper study is mandated before acquiring any land for government use. A survey on the estate is the impending one. Earlier, the owners of the Cheruvally estate filed a plea to stop the survey, but the court denied any respite to them. The situation stands conducive and there is no stopping the government to go for a survey now. According to the government order, almost 2570 acres of land will be taken from the Cheruvally estate alone. Another 300 acres will be taken from other premises which are now being contested in courts by their respective owners.

For eons-long, the call for an airport in Sabarimala reverberated among the masses. Successive government tried their best to shape the scheme but lost the urge midway. The current approval from the aviation ministry puts the spotlight on the LDF government correcting the flubs to go the developmental way with an airport in Sabarimala. If turned real, the move will lift the living of people placed in districts such as Idukki, Kottayam, and Pathanamthitta. Any beneficial project gets torpedoed by contrarian forces in the country. Examples are replete. The government should be alert about forces joining hands, waiting to throw mundane reasons to stop the project in the coming days, just like the sad end faced by the Aranmulla airport project.

Lakhs of Ayyappa devotees throng into Sabarimala on a yearly basis. The records were upended this year with new numbers entering the annals. It remains an apathy that the famed location is still a deficit of an airport. The airport can also bring more connectivity with other domestic terminals in the state such as Kozhikode, Kannur, and Thiruvananthapuram.

Employment opportunities will thrive and the location is guaranteed a needed facelift. The developmental project at any cost needs to turn into a reality. Government should move in precision when acquiring lands for the project. The people on the other hand are expected to support the Greenfield airport on the hills of the Haloed lord.