Delhi dreams longest runway, but village roadblock

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New Delhi, April 6: COME 2008, Delhi will get its third runway strip--4,430 meters long Code-F standard, capable of accommodating the dream aircraft A380. Also, with CAT IIIB Instrument Landing System (ILS) to boot, Delhi will boast of one of the longest runways in Asia.
But all this will take shape only when the 20,000 residents of Nangal Dewat, which is situated right next to the airport, move out. The villagers have been offered a location in D block, Vasant Kunj with 'well-planned parks, water treatment plants' and adjacent to the National Plant Quarantine Station.
But residents of this nearly 300-year-old village are not impressed. With barricades all around, drains choked with debris just outside their village, residents say they will not yield an inch of their ancestral land because they feel the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been 'unfair' to them.
AAI had acquired land from the villagers for airport expansion in 1972 at a compensation rate of Rs 24 square per meter. Three decades later, the villagers now want more.
"We have given land for the airport in 1964 and again in 1972 for its expansion. We are not against moving out but, the deal should be fair. While we live in houses spread across 145 sqm or more, DDA is offering us 26 sqm plots. They are also offering us a paltry Rs 24 per square yard for our land. As per 1972 land acquisition rates, the price of land here is now Rs 4-5 lakh per square yard," says Gajendra Chaudhary, a resident and Secretary of Harijan and Backward Jan Kalyan Samiti--the body under whose banner the villagers are voicing their protest.
"The people have held talks with Civil Aviation Ministry and put forth their point of view. I am confident the issue will be sorted out and the people of Nangal Dewat will get a fair deal. In any event, I will stand by them," said former Defence Minister George Fernandes, who is backing the villagers.
The DDA has sent several notices asking the villagers to vacate. In response, the villagers went to the High Court seeking proper rehabilitation and compensation and the court issued a stay order. The next hearing is on April 13.
"We had sent eviction notices earlier but the matter is now sub-judice. We will wait and see how things turn out," said Sanjeev Kumar, Deputy Director Lease Administration, DDA.
While DIAL is waiting for the issue to be sorted out, the villagers have created a permanent protest site at the village.
"The alternative site they are offering us has open manholes and trees between plots. DDA says we have to take care of all this on our own. Also there is no school in that area. Where will our children study?" said Prahlad Singh,a resident.
© 2007: Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd.