NMIA is one of the world’s largest ‘Greenfield’ international airports currently proposed for development, offering world-class facilities to passengers, cargoes, aircrafts, and airlines
Naresh Patil is plucking vegetables from his farm land in Pargaon village under Panvel taluka. He is looking wistfully at his harvest since this might be the last yield from his half acre land which has been acquired by Cidco for the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA).
With almost all decks being cleared for the proposed international airport and even the land acquisition process in its last stage, the ground work is likely to start by next year. By then, farmers whose lands have been acquired for the cause, may not be able to farm again.
NMIA is one of the world’s largest ‘Greenfield’ international airports currently proposed for development, offering world-class facilities to passengers, cargoes, aircrafts, and airlines. The proposed second airport is located at Navi Mumbai for several reasons, primarily because Navi Mumbai is expected to cater to future growth in population, business, and commercial activities of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The availability of excellent physical and social infrastructure coupled with an environment-friendly site makes the NMIA both technically feasible and financially viable.
The total area of NMIA project is 2268 ha and the core airport area is 1160 ha. The land which has already been in possession of CIDCO is 1597 ha, and another 671 ha land needs to be acquired. Additionally, ten settlements are yet to be rehabilitated. Patil’s land falls in the core area of the airport and has been acquired for the project.
Pargaon village has a population of around 1700, majority being illiterate. Mahendra Patil, a former Sarpanch of Pargaon, who has also championed the cause of project-affected-persons of the village says, “Villagers are now looking forward to the package they will receive in return for the land that was acquired for the project.” However, he said that a delay in getting developed land is mitigating their hope of settling down again. Each villager will get developed land measuring 22.5 per cent of the land they had to surrender.
Rahul Mokal, another villager of Pargaon is an advocate by profession says, there must be a vision to develop the village along with employment generation. “Villagers have been relying on the development, which will take place following the airport project, and open up a new source of income,” he said. Pargaon village or gaothan area will be not be displaced for the airport project since only agricultural land of the villagers have been acquired.
“The land has been primarily used for paddy crop and a few seasonal vegetables. But this was sufficient for villagers to run their families,” Mokal said. Majority of the villagers are farmers or fishermen. Mokal says that the main occupation of the villagers is either farming or fishing. As both back water and farm land will be acquired for the project, villagers won’t be able to do either now. Laxman Govind Dalvi, 76, makes around Rs 300 to Rs 400 per day from fishing and has been doing so for the last 65 years. “At this age, I cannot do any other work as I have only fished my entire life,” he said.
Despite these odds, the villagers are excited about being a part of this project. “We are part of a project which the entire country is looking forward to,” said another villager, adding that “The new generation does not like farming or fishing. They look for jobs where there is sense of security and Cidco has promised the villagers a job once the airport starts functioning.”
Cidco has already been running a training programme for airport Project Affected People (PAP) and even sponsored couple of students for management courses and public service commission entrance examination. “We have already been running a number of training programmes for PAPs and received an encouraging response. We have also tied up with National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) for training the women in tailoring,” said a senior official of Cidco. An aviation course has also been started in Navi Mumbai where PAPs students can take training so that they can get a job once the airport is operational.
PRESENT STATUS
The City and Industrial Development Corporation has given two months extension for financial bidding to three bidders, shortlisted for request for proposal bidding for NMIA. However, this hasn’t affected the completion of the first phase.
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 "Pargaon village")
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