Along came some turbulence

Mumbai:The Supreme Court had recently given an order that makes it possible to rehabilitate a larger number of encroachers who are using Mumbai airport land. The court ruled that authorities could change the cut-off date for slumdwellers who were eligible for rehabilitation to new areas. As of now, only encroachers whose hutments and other structures were built prior to 1995 are eligible for rehabilitation.
Far from welcoming the verdict, some politicians have now demanded that the slumdwellers should not be shifted from the prime land at all.
Last week, before the Supreme Court bench, the Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL) had said it could give a ‘golden handshake' to about 60,000 families living in slums around the airport.
The company has plans to clear 276 acres of encroached land to aid a proposed Rs 5,200-crore airport expansion plan.
The Supreme Court then allowed for the cut-off date to be changed. In the wake of the Supreme Court judgment, minister of state for housing Pritamkumar Shegaonkar took the stand that the slumdwellers should not be moved from airport land at all.
Citing reasons like difficulty in commuting to work and so on, the minister said the airport could move to some other place and the land should be left to the slumdwellers.
14/05/07 Times of India

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Categories: Airports May 2007