The project-affected people (PAPs) of the Navi Mumbai airport project have postponed their protest against CIDCO after they were assured that their demands would be fulfilled, in a meeting at Mantralaya.
The meeting, held on February 13, was attended by 16 people including Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde, CIDCO MD Lokesh Chandra, president of Navi Mumbai International Airport Committee Anil Patil, and members of the Shiv Sena and All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS).
“They have promised us that they will conduct a survey of all fishermen in order to proceed with compensation. People who are facing zero eligibility issues have also been asked to produce their documents again before a committee formed by CIDCO for a final decision,” Kiran Keni, a resident of Waghivali village and member of AIKS, said
‘Might reconsider protest’
He said the PAPs have been assured that the survey of fishermen will start within 15 days. “If they don’t begin the survey within 15 days, we will reconsider the protest against CIDCO,” Mr. Keni said. He said CIDCO had also assured that their demands for jobs would be fulfilled.
The villagers of Waghivali had recently staged a 38-day protest, which was withdrawn after they were promised a joint meeting with CIDCO and the government. The villagers had declared of a second protest on February 17 if the meeting was not conducted, after which the meeting was arranged at Mantralaya on February 13.
“We have already written to fisheries department for a survey of the fishermen. We need to confirm if our list has all the registered fishermen. Once that is confirmed, the government will decide on the compensation. To solve the zero eligibility issue, a committee has already been formed to hear the aggrieved,” a CIDCO officer said.
The demands of the PAPs included: job preference in the project, compensation to fishermen who would lose their livelihood to the project, increase in construction aid from ₹1,500 to ₹2,500 per sq.ft. and reconsidering the decision of ‘zero eligibility’ for resettlement.
