Mumbai airport: Declare funnel zone as ‘infrastructure affected’, says Congress’ Gaikwad as 6,000 buildings remain stuck in ‘limbo’

Mumbai Congress President Varsha Gaikwad has written to the Civil Aviation Ministry asking the area affected by the Mumbai airport runway funnel zone to be declared as “infrastructure affected”.

Writing to Civil Aviation Minister K R Naidu, Gaikwad said the redevelopment of the 6,000 buildings falling within the Mumbai airport runway funnel zone remain in an uncertain situation due to height restrictions imposed by the ministry.

“This has severely impacted the viability of several redevelopment projects, leaving six to eight lakh Mumbaikars residing in Vile Parle, Santacruz, Kurla and Ghatkopar (West) in a precarious situation. The stalled development projects are causing financial hardships to residents,” she said.

The funnel zone encompasses areas aligned with the runways, specifically along the paths followed by flights during landing and takeoff.

‘Urgent need of redevelopment’

Gaikwad pointed out that a number of the buildings in question are older than the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and are in an “urgent need of redevelopment.”” Redevelopment of slums too in this area is affected. There can be no compromise on the safety of operations at the airport but the government should consider the issue of families affected by the funnel zone restrictions,” she added.

The Lok Sabha MP stated that transmission towers and high-frequency communication systems must be relocated in a way that does not compromise the safety of one of the country’s busiest airports.

Similarly, without compromising airport safety, the feasibility of reevaluating the funnel line must also be considered, she said.

There is a delay in formulating a special redevelopment policy for this “infrastructure affected area”, and the civil aviation ministry and the Maharashtra government must collaborate swiftly to develop such a policy, she demanded.

“The policy should offer additional construction rights in form of TDR (Transferable Development Rights) to compensate for the loss of development to the extent of its full potential. There must be waiver of various construction premiums to make redevelopment projects in this region viable,” she said.

(With PTI inputs)