AAI survey finds new surge in encroachments at Juhu airport

Mumbai: A digital survey by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has found that encroachment on Juhu airport land has increased significantly over the last few months.
“Ahead of the monsoons, around four rows of hutments have cropped up,” said an airport official. These hutments will not be removed for at least the next three months as the civic body does not conduct slum demolitions during monsoon.
In 2008, the area under encroachment in the Juhu aerodrome was around 29 acres. Now, preliminary calculations indicate that it could be as high as 41 acres. However, AAI officials said they would be able to arrive at a more accurate figure only after the survey is completed in the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, BMC officials have conducted an inspection of the airport premises and asked the AAI to submit a plan for storm water drainage within the aerodrome. The AAI has tied up with IIT-Bombay to come up with a storm water drainage network to ensure that low-lying areas are not flooded during the monsoon. “The survey is actually being conducted for the storm water drainage network, but we will also get the figures for encroachment,” an AAI official said.
20/06/11 Indian Express

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Categories: Airports Jun 2011