Relief promised for displaced in Nagpur airport project

NAGPUR - Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said Wednesday that the government would provide compensation, starting at Rs.5 lakh, to people whose land was acquired for setting up a cargo hub and airport at Nagpur.

Replying to a discussion in the assembly, Chavan said the government would take steps to provide adequate compensation to those displaced due to the proposed multi-modal international cargo hub and airport at Nagpur (MIHAN).

He said the compensation would be on the lines of relief given to the displaced in Jaitapur, where a nuclear power plant is coming up.

The Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC), which is executing the MIHAN project, acquired government-owned land and was in the process of acquiring 357 hectares from private land holders, 45 hectares of land covered by shrubs and another 400 hectares in exchange with the Airport Authority of India and the Indian Air Force, Chavan said.

“The priority before us is to rehabilitate the displaced families,” Chavan declared and said the government was considering an option of providing 12 percent developed land to the displaced, besides compensation.

Admitting to delays in implementing the project, which was scheduled for completion in 2008, Chavan said MIHAN was also hit by the global recession which stalled international investments.

Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Chandrashekhar Bawankule demanded setting up of fast track courts to settle the rehabilitation and land acquisition cases, which Chavan agreed to consider.

Bala Nandgaonkar of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena said that the authorities had claimed Nagpur would be developed on the lines of Singapore and Shanghai, but the city was in for a big disappointment.