Airport slum dwellers come up with own rehab plan

Mumbai:The Vimantal Parisar Rahivasi Ekta Sangh, a representative body of 5,000-odd people residing in slums around the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, has submitted a resettlement and rehabilitation plan to Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel.
Architect P K Das, who was roped in by the Sangh last year to draw the blueprint for the resettlement plan, has identified three chunks of AAI land—one each near Centaur and Leela hotels, and one near Kurla—for the rehabilitation of about 50,000 people, including the 5,000 slum dwellers who are represented by the Sangh.
But Das clarifies: ‘‘The plan is merely an idea presentation right now, showing that particular areas can be cleared and people can be resettled on AAI land itself.’’
The slum-dwellers are keen on resettlement in the backdrop of government going ahead with the expansion and modernisation of the airport. The realisation has dawned that they must move.
19/04/06 Lekha Agarwal/Mumbai Newsline

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline