After forming a human chain on June 10 to coerce the state government to name the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) after late D B Patil, villagers under the aegis of All-Party Action Committee (APAC) have planned to gherao the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) office in Belapur on June 24.
Villagers held a meeting in Nerul on Thursday to chalk out the plan. The women of several villagers who attended the meeting decided to celebrate the Vat Poornima festival near the CIDCO building as a protest.
Manohar Patil, Chief Coordinator, Navi Mumbai Municipal Area Coordinating Committee said that the APAC will reach out to the women in the villages to celebrate the festival near CIDCO Bhawan. “Late D B Patil who fought for the right of project affected persons and farmers in Thane, Navi Mumbai and Palghar is emotionally attached to villagers. And, we demand that the airport should be named after him only,” said Patil.
On June 10, thousands of villagers formed human chain to put pressure on the state government to name the proposed NMIA after the late DB Patil. All-Party Action Committee (APAC) that conducted the human chain claimed that over 40000 villagers from Raigad, Thane, Palghar and Navi Mumbai were a part of it.
The APAC claimed that the chain was 12 km long stretching from Ambedkar chowk to the CIDCO office in Belapur. The villagers kept sloganeering that the airport should be named after Late D B Patil.
On April 17, the CIDCO board approved the name of the proposed NMIA after Late Bala Saheb Thackeray and sent the proposal to the state government for final approval and on June 10, the proposal was approved by the state government.
However, leaders from Navi Mumbai are demanding that it should be named after former PAP leader Patil, as he had fought for farmers and PAPs and ensured that they received 12.5% developed land from CIDCO. Apart from Navi Mumbai, Patil had also championed the cause of farmers in the Thane and Palghar area.
