CIDCO has extended the date for Project Affected People (PAP) of Navi Mumbai International Airport to vacate their homes to January 15. CIDCO has said that this will be the last extension given by them. The earlier deadline was November 30.
Till now, 1,700 houses have been vacated out of the 2,786 in the 10 villages meant to be rehabilitated, with approximately 3,500 households located at Chinchpada, Kopar, Kolhi, Ulwe, Upper Owale, Waghivalivada, Vaghivali, Ganeshpuri, Targhar and Kombadbhuje. The Rehabilitation and Resettlement scheme includes the allotment of a developed plot of size equal to triple the roof area with 1.5 FSI. Construction aid cost of ₹1,000 per sq. feet decided by the government will be provided, along with an extra ₹500 per sq. feet provided by CIDCO for those who will be constructing their own homes. Besides, CIDCO will also provide 18 months’ rental money. A total of seven pockets are made for rehabilitation and resettlement, among which one, two and three are situated at Vadghar, four, five and six at Vahal and seventh at sector 26, Ulwe.
Meanwhile, PAPs are adamant on getting their demands fulfilled before vacating their homes. “We want a cremation ground in the place of relocation. The current cremation ground is located at a distance of 4 km. We can’t walk any further while carrying the dead. Currently we have a 7 acre pond in our village and none near the new place. Where will we immerse Ganapati idols? The issue of schools is also still unsolved,” Prashant Bhoir, president of the committee of the four villages — Ulwe, Kombadbhuje, Targhar and Ganeshpuri, said.
An officer from the rehabilitation department has said that each pocket has six pyres with a burial ground beside it. “We are moving PAPs to sectors and not villages. The relocated places won’t look like villages. Pocket one and two, which has four sectors, has one pond and another pond at Ulwe. We will beautify the existing ponds. We are building a smart city, where people will gradually stop walking to crematoriums. We have asked them to find a suitable place to allocate an extra cremation ground on the condition that the locals should not have an objection,” he said.
Mr. Bhoir has also claimed that some of the plots to which CIDCO is planning to relocate them are under litigation. However, the officer from CIDCO said, “Around 12 plots out of 15,975 were under litigation. They had a stay order from the High Court and hence we have changed the plots now and it has been conveyed and showed to them. Now there are no plots under litigation.”
