200 acres to be excluded for airport expansion

Mumbai: The sight of slums that announces the descent to Mumbai airport is here to stay. In an admission of its inability to clear encroachments, nearly 200 acres of designated airport land encroached upon is to be excluded from the modernization and expansion plans for the Chhatrapati Shivaji international airport. Only 104 acres of the encroached land required for aeronautical purposes are to be cleared.
The MMRDA, the planning authority for the airport area, in a modified interim draft development plan, proposed the exclusion for now of the encroached areas.
MMRDA said the airport in the heart of Mumbai was facing a serious impact due to encroachments and slums. "This has created a scarcity of land needed for the airport's expansion, aviation security issues, traffic congestion and drainage.'' The airport's modernization and expansion were to be spread over 1,982 acres.
11/08/12 Clara Lewis/Times of India

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Categories: airports Aug 2012