Although the state government has claimed the Navi Mumbai airport has received environmental clearance, a small area called Pushpak Nagar, of about 700 acres, still remains a hurdle.
Although the state government has claimed the Navi Mumbai airport has received environmental clearance, a small area called Pushpak Nagar, of about 700 acres, still remains a hurdle. The area is yet to receive environmental clearance from the Union environment ministry, and the residents in the area are yet to be rehabilitated.
The City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) had proposed the development of Pushpak Nagar, a green field smart city to be developed in Navi Mumbai near the new airport.
The greenfield city was envisaged to have 25,000 to 30,000 residents, access to Wi-Fi, library and municipal parking lots. It will also have 30-40 per cent of its area dedicated to open spaces and major arterials will have dedicated bicycle lanes.
The government has acquired about 700 acres from the villagers in Pushpak Nagar area, of which 56 acres is forest.
The families in the villages are eligible for alternative location under the 22.5 per cent compensation formula. According to the compensation formula, the villagers would receive 22.5 per cent developed plot of the surrendered land. But the developed plot will be in some other location and development will include ready infrastructure.
“We are trying to provide developed plots to the Pushpak Nagar residents in some alternative location as per the 22.5 per cent compensation formula. It should not delay the airport process, as the government is speeding up the process of rehabilitation,” an official from Cidco said.
The government norms earlier stipulated that each land owner must receive 12.5 per cent area of the plot size surrendered in an alternative location. The norms later changed to 22.5 per cent, due to which Pushpak Nagar residents are entitled to get more compensation.
Cidco had received the rest of the clearances from the MoEF for the airport in 2013 but was hoping for a stage two clearance for the Pushpak Nagar layout to be able to rehabilitate the project-affected persons.
