Navi Mumbai airport: Affected people seek land compensation

Opposed to the provisions of Land Acquisition bill, to hold talks with Cidco on Friday

People affected by the Navi Mumbai international airport insist they be allotted developed land as compensation, not cash as the land acquisition Bill, recently cleared by Parliament, suggests.

According to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2012, project-affected people are entitled to get cash compensation of Rs 40 lakh per acre. But people in Navi Mumbai are holding a crucial meeting on Friday with the management of City and Industrial Development Corp (Cidco), the nodal agency for the airport project, on the compensation issue.  

The meeting comes close on the heels of chief minister Prithviraj Chavan's announcement that the government was in favour of land compensation. Cidco Chairman Pramod Hindurao told Business Standard: ''All efforts are on to reach a consensus. Cidco vice-chairman and managing director Sanjay Bhatia, accompanied by other officials, will hold yet another round of talk with the affected people on Friday. We are quite hopeful.''

R C Gharat, negotiator for the people from 10 affected villages said the land Bill might not benefit the affected. “Cidco has calculated land value of Rs 21 lakh per ha. According to the Bill,  the compensation will be increased by almost four times to Rs 84 per ha. If it is estimated in acre terms, it will be Rs 40 lakh per acre. It is not acceptable to the affected as they will be at loss. Therefore, against the government's proposal of allocation of 22.5 per cent developed land, they are insisting allocation of 35 per cent developed land, that too on net basis.”

He added: "As per the government's 22.5 per cent formula, the affected people will actually get 15.75 per cent which is not acceptable. Thus, the developed land should given on net basis and not on gross basis."  

He said the locals at Friday's meeting would also take up the issue of allocation of land for the construction of houses as per the prevailing laws of the Centre and state government. ''Besides, they will demand development of civic amenities in the villages after the airport development.”