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andrew · Member Joined: 24 Apr 2007 Posts: 212

Leave Mumbai airport to the slum dwellers: Hsg minister
In Times Of India Today

Mumbai: Interests of vote banks surely matter more than development or infrastructure projects. This is precisely what minister of state for housing Pritamkumar Shegaonkar suggested at a meeting in the state secretariat on Thursday when he suggested that plans for expansion of the Mumbai airport should be abandoned in the interest of slum dwellers.

For close to 30 minutes, Shegaonkar vehemently argued with state government officials about the right of shelter of the slum dwellers and how it was not such a good idea to relocate the slums from the airport land.

“After all they have been living there for decades. It has been their home. In fact all this encroachment was ignored by the officials for so long now, so where is the need to shift them now?’’ Shegaonkar is understood to have said.

“But after all they are our votes. Where do we go if these people are shifted out from here?’’ As if that was not all, Shegaonkar then suggested that if the expansion was inevitable, then the authorities should look at rehousing at least 10% to 20% of the slum dwellers on the land currently occupied by them.

When asked which 10% or 20% of the families should be segregated for such preferential treatment and who would take the responsibility of convincing the remainder to move out, Shegaonkar did not have any suggestions.

At the meeting, Shegaonkar had also suggested that instead of expanding Mumbai airport, the officials should focus on constructing a new airport at Navi Mumbai where there is ample space and relocation of families is not an issue.

From the time encroachers took over land around the airport, there has been no dearth of godfathers to protect them. Thanks to the high population typical of slums, the encroached land makes an attractive votebank for local politicians. Time and again they have put up hurdles when bull dozers came rolling.

ssbmat · Member Joined: 20 Dec 2006 Posts: 1710

Can someone request netaji to abandon his plush bungalow at Nariman Pt and stay with the slum dwellers? that way , his logic would be justified.

victor2alpha · Member Joined: 08 Apr 2007 Posts: 120

+ 1 to ssbmat..

Goodness.. How can the minister say make another airport at Navi Mumbai and relocate the people of that area to somewhere else.

Does he even know the economics of airlines and having two airports and how would they operate and what not...

Ya ok ok.. Dont give me the example of Newark, JFK, La Guardia :p This is India

Wah!! Rolling Eyes

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victor2alpha

HAWK21M · Posted: Sat May 12, 2007 10:14 pm Post subject:

Any pic of this guy.
Smile

regds
MEL
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Think of the Brighter side !!!

Akshay · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 315 Location: Mumbai

Well how about this Mr minister (moron!!):

Relocate the airport to Navi Mumbai. This way thee space occupied by the airport can be given to build more slums, & it will increase your vote bank too!!

This idea should have struck your learned mind much before my post Twisted Evil

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MRVC Mania. My blog dedicated to the new violet-white suburban rakes of Mumbai.

Birendra · Member Joined: 15 Feb 2007 Posts: 1411

Today in the news paper DNA a supplement with heading DNA WESTCOAST has an article of the expired leases of the current airport authority aka MIAL.

Must have a look ppl, the details did surprise me too.

And read in the papers earlier a statement by Mrs. K.K.Noorjehan (Postmaster General of Maharashtra Posts) that MIAL would buy the P & T colony in Sahar for 500 Crores and the people there would be relocated to the P & T colony in Kalina.