The Mumbai airport expansion plans are in serious trouble thanks to the deadlock between the MMRDA and MoU for a two-phase road map.
Deadlock over road map to remove encroachments
The Mumbai airport expansion plans are in serious trouble thanks to the deadlock between the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and the GVK-SA-led consortium over the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a two-phase road map to remove encroachments affecting the redevelopment.
The delay in the signing of the MoU is linked to the consortium’s indecision on selecting an alternative land in relocating the 58,000 eligible slum-dwellers from the existing 80,000 cramped in 31 slum pockets spread over 234 acres around the airport.
“They (consortium) have approached us with the MoU. But since an alternative land to rehouse the slums is not finalised, we cannot sign the same. Technically, we need 400 acres to rehouse 80,000 slums. As of now, not even four acres are being shown to us,” said T Chandrashekhar, metropolitan commissioner.
While the MMRDA has shown the 55-acre land on Dahisar Link Road, pockets of land at Kanjurmarg, Vikroli and Andheri (W) was also shown to consortium, where 25 per cent of the slums could well be accommodated.
Sources said the pressure from local politicians - both from the Congress and the BJP-to rehouse slum-dwellers in the same vicinity is the main reason for delay.
Under Phase I, 25,000 hutments will be removed, with the families shifted to 10,000 transit tenements in Dahisar. In Phase II, the remaining families will be shifted, the deadline being March 31, 2008. Under the MoU, the consortium is expected to shell out Rs50 crore to house slum dwellers.
In return, they get 107acres of land and earn Rs666 crore - Rs466 crore in land value and Rs200 crore by developing encroached land. As of now, the survey of the slums and land records is completed by MM consultants and the demarcation of land belonging to the Airports Authority of India and the Mumbai International Airport Private Limited (MIAL), the company formed by the consortium to execute the plan.
But MIAL insists that it will be difficult to assign a time-frame to complete the rehabilitation, given the human issues and complexities involved in resettlement. “MIAL 0has signed a state government support agreement and accordingly, it has undertaken a survey of land records to measure and map the airport land,” said an official spokesperson.
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