Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) affected villagers demand Rs 1 crore each for 10 temples

Ten villages affected by the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) have made a demand of Rs 1 core each for a common (sarvajanik) temple in each village, at a meeting with vice-chairman and managing director of CIDCO on Saturday. Initially, for each temple to be demolished for the airport project, CIDCO was ready to give Rs 25 lakh. However, villagers were not ready to accept the amount and the deadlock continued. Finally, CIDCO had to accept their demand to clear the decks for the ambitious airport project. The planning agency will provide this amount, apart from land, for the temple.

Since the proposed international airport project has already seen several extensions over the last decade, the planning agency CIDCO, which has 26 per cent stake in the project, left no stone unturned to push the project through. CIDCO vice chairman and MD, Bhusan Gagrani, on Saturday held a meeting with villagers and their representatives, at which the MLA and MP were also present. Gagrani accepted almost all demands placed by villagers during the meeting. However, on a couple of issues, the villagers sought some more time from the planning agency. Natha Patil, senior member of Prakalpgrasta Sangharsh Samiti of 10 affected villages said, “Most of our demands were accepted by CIDCO, but for a couple of matters which require the Chief Minister’s intervention, like amount of compensation to be given by CIDCO for per sq ft constructed area, we have sought some time to discuss amongst us.”