Cidco fears it may lose part of new airport land

We do not want any project to be thwarted, the Bombay High Court.

We do not want any project to be thwarted, the Bombay High Court said on Monday while hearing a petition filed by the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd (Cidco),fearing it may lose a part of its land earmarked for the proposed Navi Mumbai airport to its erstwhile owners.

Earlier,the court had sought all files pertaining to the ownership of the 157 acres that form a part of the land earmarked for the runway of the proposed airport. The government counsel said they still have to hold a high-level meeting after which their stand on the ownership of the land will be made clear. The counsel sought more time from the court to submit a detailed affidavit stating the state governments stand.

The Cidco had contended that the government should not revert approximately 157 acres to the family of Gangadhar Bivalkar,the original owners,as the government had acquired it from them in the 1950s. According to Cidco,the government had handed over the land to them in 1973 under the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning (MRTP) Act,1969.

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The land had been with the Bivalkar family from 1860. After Independence,the government took over the land under the Inam Abolition Act,Cidcos counsel V A Thorat argued.

The court was informed that the Cidco was not undertaking any construction on the land and was only in possession of it. Asking the government to submit the details related to the land,Justice P B Majmudar said,This is a project of great magnitude. Transparency in the government is the need of the hour. The court will hear the case further on March 28.

However,in 2005,the government had conceded in another litigation that the land belonged to the Bivalkars. They contended that before acquiring the land,the government had paid compensation to Bivalkar,who contended he gave the land to the government for management under the Forests Act,1957,and his right had not been extinguished.

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