The Praful Bidwai Column
A Nandigram near Nagpur?
WHAT do you do when you receive an official notice demanding that you surrender your land at a price, which is under one-hundredth its market value? What are your options when the land is your main source of livelihood, and is being acquired for a state-of-the-art airport and Special Economic Zone, which won't remotely benefit you?
The people of Shivangaon village bordering Nagpur's airport did what any sane person would do. They made representations to the government not to apply the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 for compulsory takeover. They wrote countless petitions to the leaders of the ruling coalition and the opposition.
Then, eight months ago, they launched a daily dawn-to-dusk relay hunger strike by 20 to 50 people. This was followed by a novel protest. First, all the male adults shaved their heads. Then, all the boys. Later, so did some 90 women -- an extraordinary move signifying distress.
Sadly, the government is completely sold on a grandiose Rs 2,581-crore project called Mihan (Maharashtra Multi-Modal International Hub Airport at Nagpur). Mihan was floated to "firmly put India on the fast track to economic superstardom," no less.
Mihan will acquire 4,354 hectares (10,760 acres), of which 1,278 ha will be earmarked for the airport, and 2,086 ha for an SEZ, termed "free trade paradise." This includes 500 ha for information technology parks, 955 ha for manufacturing units, 60 ha for a "health city," and 200 ha for a rail-cum-road terminal.
This new city will have numerous residential complexes, hotels and entertainment facilities, and its own power plant, water supply, sewerage, and other utilities. Why, it will even have a posh school, "international" of course!
This will create a new entity called Mihanpur, which will "twin" Nagpur, much like Secunderabad does Hyderabad, and become "India's fastest-growing cosmopolitan city."
Shivangaon is situated in Nagpur's prosperous orange belt -- one of 13 villages affected by Mihan -- and within Nagpur's municipal limits. Most of Shivangaon's land is irrigated. It grows vegetables and produces milk for the urban market.
Shivangaon's literacy exceeds 95 percent. Its people are politically savvy. They recall that the original Nagpur airport was built on "their" land, in 1937.
"We have repeatedly surrendered land -- for the Nagpur Improvement Trust, an industrial estate, a dairy, and a base of the Air Force called "Gajraj." Baba Daware, a protest organiser, told me in Shivangaon: "They acquired 270 ha for Gajraj at throwaway prices. The land was never used. But the government is planning to sell it -- and profiteer behind our backs."
Mihan is yet to receive environmental clearance, but land acquisition and construction, driven by lucrative contracts, have already begun. A 22,000 square-metre Central Facility Building is awaiting completion by July. So are internal roads.
Mihan will eliminate whole villages and render people landless -- without rehabilitation. In a reply under a Right to Information Act application, the authorities have clarified there is "no notification" for rehabilitation.
On January 10, the villagers took to the streets in a novel way. They marched with 7,000 buffaloes and cows to block a highway. They have, since, also gheraoed officials and engineers who were trying to fence village lands.
The people are willing to sell land, but at market value, so they can find alternative plots not too far away.
The market rate is Rs 2 to 4 crores per acre! This is confirmed by a sale deed of April 30 last, which shows that a High Court judge and his brothers sold land for a staggering Rs 2.55 crores an acre. MADC is offering a pathetic Rs 1 to 2 lakhs.
"With that kind of money, I won't be able to buy even one-tenth of the minimum area I need for bare survival," said Bapu Ambore, an elderly man sitting among a group of 60-odd protesters at Shivangaon.
What makes the Mihan land business doubly iniquitous, indeed repugnant, is the spectacular irrationality of the project. As this column has often argued, SEZs lack economic logic, drain the exchequer, and promote distorted, enclave-style growth. Most involve "sweetheart deals."
This criticism applies strongly to the Mihan SEZ. Because it is situated right next door to Nagpur's emerging IT and industrial centres, it will act as a parasite on them
However, even more irrational is the "hub" airport idea. This derives from the "hub-and-spokes" model of civil aviation, in which one central base caters to a number of radial routes. The model is used by many US airlines, but has no takers in India.
If particular airlines want to practise the model with Nagpur as the hub because of its central location, they're free to do so. There's no reason why the government should spend thousands of crores to create such a hub when there is no perceived demand for it.
Nagpur airport is puny. It records just 2 percent of India's aircraft movements and only 65,301 domestic passengers a month. By contrast, Mumbai handles 1.65 million, 27 times more. Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore do 8 to 12 times more.
Nagpur has only half as much traffic as Guwahati, Goa or Jaipur. It's in the same league as Coimbatore or Trivandrum. In total (international + domestic) traffic, it hardly counts.
It makes no sense to increase its passenger handling capacity 18-fold to 14 million a year and its cargo handling level, at present 910 tonnes, to 870,000 tonnes, as Mihan plans to do. Nagpur airport has been making losses adding up to Rs 85 crores over four years. The Rs 2,581 crore Mihan will send the losses spiralling into the future.
Mihan will become a monument to the folly of promoting mega-projects at the expense of the people. The people will resist. In Shivangaon, hundreds have solemnly pledged that they'll commit suicide, but won't surrender.
We must sincerely hope that they win, and that Nagpur doesn't witness another Nandigram, and Vidarbha, another suicide wave -- after thousands of cotton farmers have killed themselves.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments