‘Okay with airport, but show us the money’

An incident in the quaint village of Chinchpada near Panvel in mid-July shed light that all is not well with the dream project to make Mumbai’s second airport in Navi Mumbai a reality. Angry villagers of Chinchpada recently forced a team of surveyors, who had descended on their fields to assess the land for the new project, to leave.
Even though the decks are clear for the ambitious Rs3,500 crore international airport project, the future of more than 14,000 families living in over 12 villages across the proposed site — a scenic area measuring 950 hectares, with Ghadhi river and a hilly patch on both sides — is uncertain. The centuries-old civilisation of the Agri and Koli communities is on the brink of collapse. Villagers say they want jobs for their children, their land accessed at present-day rates rather than those tabulated during 1992-94, and a proper place to live.
22/08/06 Chittaranjan Tembhekar/Daily News & Analysis

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