Building the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) is going to pose challenges on several fronts, it seems. First, there is the question of the time it will take to get the new airport up and running, with the Union Civil Aviation Minister taking a view at odds with the stand of the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), the nodal agency for the project. Second, the issue of resettlement of families to be affected by the project is yet to be resolved fully. Third, the deadline for submission of bids for building the airport has had to be extended again, what with all but one bidder in the fray shooting off letters to the authorities raising concerns over the exercise.
“It will take eight to nine years for the Navi Mumbai airport to be built,” Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju had said in a interview to FE in December last year. “The capacity constraint at the Mumbai airport is a concern for all but constructing the new airport will take at least four years if the development work takes place efficiently. Building a greenfield airport in Hyderabad and Bengaluru took six to seven years. Since this airport will be built on marshy land, unlike those in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, it will take more time,” the minister had said.
Incidentally, CIDCO had so far taken the line that the new airport would be built in four years’ time. When queried on this, CIDCO senior public relations officer Dr. Mohan Ninawe admitted that building the airport could take six years, if not more.
That Raju might be right became clear when FE visited the airport site. Detailed land surveys of the area are yet to start. Even the pre-development work which involves cutting of hillocks, filling up of marshy areas, and diversion of creeks and rivers is behind schedule. Meanwhile the quarrying and sand mining mafia is having a field day, employing machinery to exploit the area’s natural resources. “Most of the hills have already been tunneled into for quarrying,” says a villager. “Flattening the area should not take too long or too much effort,” he adds by way of consolation. Sand mining is being carried out at the 7-km Ulve creek for the cheap, dark sand that is used for construction. Police cases were registered earlier against three sand mining gangs but the illegal activities continue unchecked.
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As for rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) , the over 3000 families that call the airport site their home say they will not relocate unless they receive developed land with basic amenities such as water supply and electricity connections in place. As it is, over 1000 families are yet to give a written consent for relocation.
The sarpanch of one of the villages dotting the landscape says the residents will not accept the alternative proposition of taking up temporary accommodation until the permanent site is ready for occupation. “The government is offering us rent for 18 months. However, they have not actually found any rented accommodation that is ready for us to occupy. Moreover, it is too much of a hassle to keep moving,” he says. “We will leave this place only when the permanent site, Pushpak Nagar, is fully ready.”
In all, there are three R&R sites, namely, Vahal, Kunde Vahal and Vadghar, besides the proposed state-of-the-art township, Pushpak Nagar. CIDCO is already on the job but its spokesperson says the R&R sites would be ready only by the end of 2017.
CIDCO has divided the pre-development work into four packages, with estimated costs of Rs 1,673 crore. Only two packages have been awarded thus far, one each to GVK and Gayatri Projects. Sources said the two companies are in discussions to sub-contract the work to local groups.
When the deadline for submission of bids for building NMIA expired on January 9, CIDCO had received a solitary bid—from the GVK-led Mumbai International Airport (MIAL)—from a total of four pre-qualified bidders. The other three who did not submit bids—Tata Realty, GMR and Voluptas Developers—instead shot off letters to the state government and CIDCO. The letter sent by GMR is said to have raised concerns over pre-development, land acquisition, rehabilitation, environmental clearances, conflict of interest in awarding the pre-development work contract, novation of the same, capping CIDCO’s equity contribution at 26% irrespective of the project cost, repayment of soft loan incurred on pre-development work and termination payment clause.
The agency has since extended the deadline for bid submission to January 25. This is the fourth time it has done so. Considering the ground realities, it looks unlikely that the three companies that opted out of the process will reverse their decision within a fortnight. Unless CIDCO can get things rolling in quick time. The ball is in its court.