Maharashtra: Villagers threaten fresh protest over Navi Mumbai international airport name row

Protesters demanding the naming of the Navi Mumbai International Airport after Dinkar Balu Patil in Belapur, Navi Mumbai on June 24. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

Panvel Municipal Corporation deputy Mayor Jagdish Gaikwad on Monday said villagers will launch protests again if the Maharashtra government doesn't name the upcoming Navi Mumbai international airport after the leader of the project affected people late D B Patil.

Thousands of villagers had taken out a march last month in CBD Belapur on the Mumbai-Pune expressway defying Covid-19 restrictions in protest against the state government's decision to name the upcoming international airport after Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray.

"We will not allow three runways at the airport to be constructed if our demand is not accepted. We will burn the airport. Do not play with our sentiments," Gaikwad told reporters. He alleged that the police treated the protesters like "Naxals".

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