Eyebrows have been raised after aviation minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju conducted an aerial survey on Tuesday of the site in Navi Mumbai earmarked for the international airport and an airstrip belonging to the defence authorities.
Problems with rehabilitation of project-affected people in Navi Mumbai may have forced the government to survey the land in Kalyan to send out a message, said a source.
“The only drawback is that the land available in Kalyan is smaller than that in Navi Mumbai, which ultimately reduces the scope for international operations. On the Kalyan plot, there is an airstrip built during the Second World War,” the source added. Vinod Geete, a real estate consultant, said any move to shift the airport out of Navi Mumbai would jeopardize the realty boom, which areas like Ulve, Belapur, Kharghar and Panvel have been witnessing. Nearly all clearances for the airport are already in place and contractors were to start the pre-development work soon. When asked why the project-affected were reluctant to leave their houses to pave way for the ground-levelling work to start, BJP legislator from Panvel Prashant Thakur said, “Going by their past experiences, they were uncertain whether or not Cidco would hand over plots with all civic amenities within 12-18 months.” He added, “The government had sanctioned the project-affected rent for 12-18 months, but it was not sufficient as developing the plots would take longer. Even today in Sector 35 there are no civic facilities despite the area having tall residential towers.” Tyrone Crawford Womens Jersey