Navi Mumbai: After conducting a 23-day long chain protest, villagers of 23 villages that fall under Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Area (NAINA), have decided to hit the streets. From March 20 to 22, villagers will take out a protest march from Panvel to Belapur and block traffic movement.
Villagers under the banner of NAINA Project Affected Utkarsh Samiti (NPAUS) will join the protest. They alleged that the state government did not pay heed to their chain protest wherein all 23 villages were closed for a day from February 12 to March 1, 2023. Each village stopped all work for a day and staged a protest against the project.
CIDCO's pilot project
The City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) is developing NAINA consisting of 23 villages as part of the pilot project.
Former MLC Balaram Patil said that the purpose of the chain protest is to inform villagers about the project and how it will snatch their lands. “Since the government does not seem to take a concrete decision regarding the removal of NAINA in the budget session, the farmers have to abandon their work and come out on the streets to protest,” said Balaram Patil, former MLC. He added that a fleet of farmers' vehicles will leave from Panvel to Belapur between March 20 and 22. “If the government does not pay attention, the entire responsibility of the agitation will be on the government,” said Patil.
NAINA is a participatory land pooling scheme where villagers will get 40 percent of the developed land of the total land they will surrender to develop NAINA city in the Raigad district. At present, CIDCO is executing a pilot project, consisting of 23 villages in the Raigad district.
According to villagers, the impact assessment report says that around 42% of land in NAINA is multi-crop land. How will the villagers survive if they surrender these lands and get only 40% of the development land? Even villagers have to pay different charges for development.”
