Notwithstanding challenges associated with land acquisition, Navi Mumbai, which is spread over 344 sq km, was conceived in the mainland to decongest Mumbai, and was developed from scratch without displacing people, said Geetha Ajit Pillai, Chief General Manager (Transport and Airport) of the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), Mumbai’s city planning agency that developed Navi Mumbai.
Having 25 years experience in planning and developing urban transportation projects, including that of the Navi Mumbai International Airport, she is among the 17 experts from across the country who will address ‘Bodhi’, the two-day national sustainable urban development conclave that will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at the Bolgatty Palace and Island Resort here on Sunday. It is organised jointly by the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) and the Association of Municipalities and Development Authorities (AMDA).
Speaking to The Hindu here on Saturday, she explained how CIDCO, a government agency, became fully self-sufficient through land value capture from Navi Mumbai. “None from the 90 small fishing village settlements that were there had to be relocated as we built the city around them. This made it eligible for the UN Habitat Award for Sustainable Development,” she said.
Elaborating on how the Navi Mumbai airport was built as a greenfield public-private partnership (PPP) project in the wake of pressure on the Mumbai airport, Ms. Pillai spoke of how CIDCO, which has 26% stake in the airport project, played an active role in rehabilitating around 3,000 families through negotiations at prime land in the vicinity. This was supplemented by a good compensation package. Political will too played its part. “We learnt much from the Cochin International Airport, the first PPP airport in the country. Even now, the airport needs to be lauded for strict control on capital investment and its quality,” she said.
She spoke of how the Navi Mumbai airport team led by three IAS officers led the negotiations with land owners and convinced them of how the project would usher in economic growth and job opportunities for their family members. “We also gave technical training to their children to empower them for jobs in the airport and involved contractors from the area for the construction work,” she said.
