Dreams crash against the airport wall

Thiruvananthapuram: it has been nearly a decade since the Airports Authority of India (AAI) declared that it had no need for the 50-odd acres of land it had identified 50 years ago for the expansion of the airport. But, even after all this while, nearly 150 underprivileged families living in this marshy chunk of AAI-forsaken land have not been given title deeds.
The land, which lies opposite the western flank of the Airport stretching east for nearly two km towards the Vallakkadavu area, has been divided into two colonies, Suleiman Street (SS) and Chithira Nagar (CN). Together, the two colonies house over 400 families.
‘‘I have been living in this ‘theruvu’ for the last 50 years and I have nowhere else to go. But the Corporation says I don’t possess this land, my land. The saddest part is that we are made to feel like encroachers, always in danger of being pushed out,’’ said 62-year-old Mustafa of Suleiman Street. If there are 50 families living in ‘no man’s land’ in Suleiman Street, there are 108 in the nearby Chithira Nagar.
But there are families who were given title deeds in 2001, right after the AAI took the land out of its development plans. ‘‘Then, all the families did not get the title deeds. Some couldn’t give applications, some didn’t have the money to pay even the money required for the procedures, some were ignorant and some thought it was not important,’’ Mustafa said.
19/07/10 R Ayyappan/ExpreesBuzz

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Categories: Airports Jul 2010