For Navi Mumbai airport land, govt woos project-affected persons

MUMBAI: Fearing a prolonged delay in land acquisition for the proposed Navi Mumbai international airport might make the project economically unviable, the state government has devised a special action plan to win over project-affected persons (PAPs).
It includes taking the help of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to create an employability plan for villagers.
The nodal agency for the airport-related work, CIDCO, has faced opposition from locals over acquisition of 671 hectares of private land.
The airport project, conceptualized in 1998, has already seen a 305% cost escalation, from Rs 4,766 crore to Rs 14,573 crore in 2012. A CIDCO official said the cost was rising at the rate of 10% every year-about Rs 2 crore every day.
Disagreement over compensation is behind the delay. While CIDCO proposes giving developed land that is 22.5% of the acquired land, R C Gharat of the Navi Mumbai International Airport Sangharsh Samiti said farmers would not settle for anything below 30% developed land or Rs 50 crore per hectare.
Now, officials say the new action plan has been devised to bridge this gap. As part of the plan, CIDCO has tied up with TISS, and plans to offer industry specific training courses with placement services for locals. There will be special focus on 3,500 college students.
The agency has also proposed special amenities and world-class infrastructure for villages and PAP resettlement areas. It has decided to offer PAPs 50% of the contracts awarded by CIDCO for reclamation and quarrying. All pending land compensation matters with other PAPs are proposed to be resolved within four months.
Senior officials have also begun engaging with villagers. Recently, CIDCO MD Sanjay Bhatia interacted with people in local villages while providing Rs 2 crore for a new school.
"We are putting in our best efforts to implement the action plan," Bhatia said. "We will be sympathetic towards villagers in resolving pending issues."
Last week, joint MD V Radha interacted with youth, women and panchayat members of Pargaon, a village with the highest number of airport PAPs.