Project affected persons to be relocated on 5 hectare plot in Panvel
Navi Mumbai Airport project
After the original rehabilitation component of the Navi Mumbai Airport project hit a roadblock, it has now been decided to handover 5 hectare of land in Panvel for rehabilitating the project affected people. The decision was taken after a major portion of the 57 hectares of land, meant to relocate project affected people (PAP), had been classified as no-development land, following a change in coastal area protection norms.
The Navi Mumbai Airport is one of the six projects that have been allowed to be constructed on CRZ-1 land under the 2011 notification. The state government has now asked that the exemption granted to the core airport land be extended to the 57-hectare land in Wadghar village meant to rehabilitate PAPs. The Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) is yet to take a decision on freeing land from CRZ restrictions, despite the state government’s recent representations to the Prime Minister’s Office and the ministry.
Besides, the airport project rehabilitation plot, a total of 1,240 hectares of land in Navi Mumbai, has also been affected by CRZ-1 for the past two years, resulting in a potential loss of Rs 37,200 crore. Wadghar is one of the three villages in Navi Mumbai where people from the 10 villages affected by the airport project will be shifted to. Notwithstanding the opposition of a few project-affected persons (PAPs) to the acquisition of land for the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport in Panvel, Cidco has quietly started ground levelling work at the site. A source said, “We don’t want to wait for those who are adamant in spite being offered the best compensation.” The package offers PAPs 22.5% of the developed land, with an FSI of 2. Affected villagers will get pakka houses and their unemployed youth will be given vocational training. Joint MD of Cidco V Radha said Cidco has tied up with the ICICI Bank, TCS, NIFD and Taj catering, among others, for the training programme. Cidco has identified 3,500 unemployed youth. “We have been conducting their aptitude and psychological tests to know their interests, as per which they will be enrolled in state-subsidised courses. They will also get stipend. We are tracking their academic record and, as per the findings, changes will made in the programme,” she said.
Traditionally, in Navi Mumbai, the High Tide Line (HTL), which is the marker of CRZ-1, has been delineated on the basis of bunds and flapgates. Following the Coastal Regulations Zone (CRZ) notification of 2011, which classifies coastal land as CRZ-1 based on its salinity concentration, the Wadghar land has been rendered into a no-development plot. The land is one of the many that was acquired by the Navi Mumbai’s planning agency CIDCO.
