4 lakh people to be shifted for airport development

Mumbai: It’s probably the largest displacement and relocation in the country in modern times. Four lakh residents will be shifted from the periphery of the airport to other areas in the suburbs so that the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport’s modernisation and expansion can be completed by 2013.
But two years after the state began the process of acquiring 276 acres of land needed for the expansion, the project crawls along, mired in controversy, protests and red tape. The residents—who include 7,000 families in Sahar Village, a gaothan housing original inhabitants of the city—want to see a clear resettlement plan before they allow a survey of the eligible homes. “Lock one house, give a key to a new house. This is our slogan. Unless the government follows this norm, it will find it difficult to move anyone out. There will only be resistance,’’ says N Sureshan, general secretary, Airport Authority Zopadpatti Sangharsha Samiti.
Despite the magnitude of the displacement, none of the concerned authorities—MMRDA, MIAL, Housing Development Infrastructure Ltd, Slum Rehabilitation Authority and BMC—are accepting overall responsibility for the resettlement.
13/01/10 Clara Lewis & Manju V/Times of India

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Airports Jan 2010