Navi Mumbai airport land: Govt does U-turn, to review land ownership statement

Five years after acknowledging that a plot of land in Navi Mumbai, where the new airport is planned, belonged to the Bivalkar family, the state government has decided to review its statement made before the court in 2005.

The government decided to review its own order after Cidco approached the Bombay high court expressing apprehension that they may lose about 157 acres, which is part of the land where the airport is coming up.

Advocate General Ravi Kadam and assistant government pleader Nitin Deshpande told the high court. “We will file an application for review of the high court order dated December 8, 2005, where the government had not challenged the ownership and title of Bivalkar family,” said Kadam.

The government had said that in 2005 it was aware of the arrangement betweenBivalkar and the state. It said it had quashed the order of the district collector, Raigad, which said the land belonged to the government.

The need for review arose after the high court asked the government to make its stand clear on the ownership issue after Cidco’s petition. “It is a serious issue and a big project cannot be held up due to lack of coordination between two government departments. Make your stand clear,” it said.

Cidco has filed a petition seeking that the government not give back about 157 acres of land to the Bivalkar family as the government had acquired the land in 1950s. The Bivalkars were awarded compensation. The land is also private forest and under the Forest Act, 1975.

Following Cidco’s petition, an affidavit was filed by Gangaram Bivalkar (67) and his brother Yashwant (62) stating that only the redevelopment right had been passed on to the government. Mahendra Ghelani, their counsel, said the ownership rights were with the Bivalkars. The land was given by Bivalkars to the government to manage it under the Forest Act, said Ghelani. As the government failed to take steps to restore the land to Bivalkars as per their statement in 2005, they have field contempt of court petition which is pending.

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