Slum first, flight later

Mumbai: After successfully lobbying to get the cut-off date for regularising slums around Mumbai airport extended by five years, local politicians are now trying hard to scuttle the rehabilitation plans. If succeeded, this may further delay the airport expansion plans.
Local politicians are now demanding rehabilitation of illegal slums around airport in 126 acres of land adjacent to the airport earmarked for aviation related activities, sources told ET.
This land is part of the total 276 acres under slums at present. The Mumbai International Airport (MIAL), a joint venture between a con-sortium comprising GVK Group, Airports Company South Africa, and Bidvest and Airport Authority of India, has undertaken expansion and modernisation of the airport.
“The master plan MIAL submitted to government in October 2006 details the use of 276 acres. Basically, the plan focuses on capacity addition, building new infrastructure, and shifting the existing infrastructure wherever necessary,” an MIAL spokesperson told ET.
But the slum-dwellers, being vociferously represented by the Congress and BJP, do not want to move out. They are claiming that the MIAL master plan makes a distinction between 150 acres of land for “aviation activity” and the rest 126 acres for “aviation-related activity”.
Nasim Khan, Congress legislator from Nehru Nagar, Kurla, met chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Wednesday with a demand to rehabilitate slum-dwellers on 126 acres.
09/06/07 Abhiram Ghadyalpatil/Economic Times

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Categories: Airports Jun 2007