Statue in the way of airport expansion

MIAL officials meet CM to discuss the possibility of moving the statue away from its current spot

After failing to convince his two predecessors, courting controversy for three years, and unintentionally inviting protests by various political parties, will the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) bosses get the incumbent CM's nod to carry on with the airport's modernisation, held up by the presence of the Shivaji statue?


The statue of the Maratha warrior king, Shivaji, erected in 1999 at the international airport, has been a sticking point ever since the GVK-led MIAL, promoters of Mumbai airport, won the bid for its modernisation in 2007. But last Tuesday, a high-level meeting at Mantralaya between CM Prithviraj Chavan and Sanjay Reddy, managing director of MIAL, and other top officials, seem to have convinced the state government authorities that it is standing in the way of the airport's expansion, which includes a new integrated terminal at Sahar.


Statuesque question: As the airport undergoes a revamp, a senior
bureaucrat assured that a decision regarding the statue will be arrived
at only after a discussion with all the stakeholders and political parties.
Pic/Mahesh Chafe

State Civil Aviation Secretary Nandkumar Jantre confirmed the high level meeting. "It is a known fact that the Mumbai airport has reached its saturation point and the ongoing expansion work is the need of the hour, which should not be delayed," he said.u00a0u00a0

'Impeding work'
Senior Mantralaya officials spoke with MiD DAY, concurring that the Shivaji statue, at the proposed terminal's site, was hindering the work, and that it needs to be urgently relocated. They added that the revamp work is already behind schedule.

"The Chief Minister has expressed his apprehension over the project and assured that the issue would be resolved soon after taking into confidence all the stakeholders and political parties. An all-party meeting will be held shortly, as it is a sensitive matter," said a senior bureaucrat.

MIAL officials had planned a small presentation for the CM to show the progress of the work, but because of time constraints, only a hard copy was used to discuss the issue. The meeting, which lasted for about half an hour, covered issues like airport policy, and feedback received from passengers for the new airport terminal in Delhi, which will be considered while constructing the integrated terminal at Sahar.

Manish Kalghatgi, spokesperson for MIAL, said, "The integrated terminal project at Sahar is part of the Rs 9,800 crore airport modernisation project, and the scheduled deadline is 2013. It is a fact that the existing statue of Shivaji is at a point where the main terminal building has to come up." He refused to comment further.

When MiD DAY contacted Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, his office informed us that he had left for Delhi to meet party chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The CM would return today and head to Kolhapur for a function.

R9,800 cr
The estimated cost of the airport modernisation project

Netas speak
Given the series of protests by various political parties that the issue of statue relocation has evoked in the past two years, MiD DAY decided to speak with them before any decision is taken and get their reaction.

The statue should be moved only if it is really hampering the expansion work. But in that case, they (MIAL) must place the statue at a very prominent place keeping in mind that the airport is named after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and the statue should be viewed by all people entering and leaving the airport.
ufffd Nitin Sardesai, general secretary and spokesperson, MNSu00a0

Our party has not got anything official on the matter, if at all we get, we will discuss the issue with Shiv Sena supremo and Uddhav Thackeray and would take the necessary steps as suggested u00a0by them.
ufffd Sanjay Raut, MP and spokesperson, Shiv Sena

MIAL should first talk to Shiv Sena leadership instead of making an attempt to bring pressure from the government. The merit of the plan needs to be discussed sitting across the table and an amicable suggestion can be looked into the issue.
ufffd Bharat Kumar Raut, MP, Shiv Sena
u00a0
Our party is open for any discussion on the issue. Let (MIAL) and state government come out with facts stating that the statue is actually hampering the progress of the work and we will decide accordingly.
ufffd Madhav Bhandari, spokesperson, BJP
u00a0
Growth and prosperity of the state is equally important. The need of the hour is to overcome the hurdles blocking the growth. And till now, this issue has not been discussed in the party. The chief minister is already looking into the matter personally and we would like to settle this issue by consulting all party leaders.
ufffd Anant Gadgil, spokesperson, Congress