Tuesday 13 August 2013

R&R and New Mumbai Airport - Sheela Patel

All infrastructure projects ignore both the economics and the politics linked challenges of relocation of households. It is evident that relocation for pubic requirement of infrastructure legitimatize relocation of households and  by and large their needs aspirations and demands are never considered; which is crucial for the smooth execution of the project. In many instances in which the households that need to be relocated are slum dwellers, administrators treat the slum dwellers as “getting favors” to be given relocation.  The administrators should instead see the project as ensuring that the disadvantaged households get adequate shelter as well as improved quality of life as a result of the project which the state is obligated to provide to the vulnerable.


In the situation of the Navi Mumbai Airport the circumstances are different.  The land is inhabited by villages their land cannot be just taken away.  This project has been continuously delayed for many years due to several reasons at different times.  The simplicity and clarity of demands by the households and their acceptance by the state will facilitate a way forward. Why should it have taken so long?



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