The Hindu : Front Page : Trouble in the shadow of Delhi airport

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 13, 2007
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Trouble in the shadow of Delhi airport

Mandira Nayar

Modernisation sparks night of violence as village next door finds itself cut off

TROUBLE IN THE AIR: Protesting villagers sit on the track blocking rail traffic at Shahbad Mohammadpur near Delhi airport on Tuesday. PHOTO: V. SUDERSHAN

NEW DELHI: Agitating villagers of Shahbad Mohammadpur near Indira Gandhi International Airport here turned violent on Monday night after Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) contractors threatened to block the only access road the village has to National Highway-8 and Dwarka.

Seven policemen were injured as villagers went on the rampage allegedly torching two earth-moving machines and two dumpers. The police fired 12 rounds in the air and booked three persons on charges of rioting.

"We fired 12 rounds in the air as the crowd had resorted to stone-throwing. The DIAL contractor had blocked off half the road that leads from the village to National Highway-8 to Dwarka. This could be termed as a breach of trust as two weeks ago a meeting was held between DIAL officials, village representatives and the police in which all the modalities were worked out to keep this road open,'' said a senior police officer on Tuesday.

For their part, senior DIAL officials claimed that it was all a "misunderstanding" and assured the villagers that the road would become operational soon. "We don't know how the contractor cut the road. It was a misunderstanding. We are providing another alternate route too,'' said a senior airport official.

Living in the shadow of the Capital's upcoming new mega airport development project, Shahbad Mohammadpur village seems suddenly to be pushed back in time. With access to the village almost impossible as the roads have been blocked off for modernisation of the airport, villagers have to walk three kilometres to Dwarka Sector 9 to get to the nearest road.

"We used to have access from seven sides. But in the past few months we have been confined to the village. We are not against modernisation of the airport. We want access to the city through wide and well-lit roads,'' said Satyadev Solanki of Shahbad Mohammadpur.

While DIAL officials assert that an alternative road is being built, for commuters to Shahbad Mohammadpur the village has literally dropped off the map in the past one month. Unable to get to South Delhi without going through Dwarka, residents have to take the longer route to get anywhere.

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