Environment
Support Group ®
S-3, Rajashree Apartments, 18/57, 1st Main
Road, S. R. K. Gardens,
Jayanagar, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore 560
041. INDIA
Telefax: 91-80-6341977/6531339 Fax:
91-80-6918051 (PP)
Email: [email protected]n Website: http://www.altindia.net/esg/index.htm
Mr.
A. K. Monappa, IAS
Deputy
Commissioner
Mangalore
29 April
2002
Reg.:
Threat of eviction of affected persons due to proposed expansion of
Mangalore Airport
Dear
Mr. Monappa,
It
appears that your office has issued a final eviction notice to over 200
families adversely affected by the expansion of the Mangalore airport. It has been to the effect that should they
not leave the area proposed for acquisition, the Public Work Dept. will
forcibly evict them after 30 April 2002.
It
would have been appropriate to take such strong action when the project
proposed was fully compliant with the law, and being developed in accordance
with the standards and regulations prescribed by the requisite agencies. This certainly is not the case in the
present instance.
The
Mangalore Airport expansion has been a subject of controversy ever since it was
conceived over a decade ago. Giving up
on alternative expansion possibilities, as they would dislocate few, yet
politically connected and large landholding families, the Airports Authority of
India decided to expand in such a manner, that it would adversely affected the
aforementioned families emerging from very poor Dalit and minority
communities. What it did not so
carefully consider, was that it was forcing itself into a cul de sac
situation from the design point of view for the following reasons.
In
view of the above you are urged to reconsider the decision to evict the project
affected families, as the same would amount to brutal injustice considering
that this sensitive project is technically unviable and being developed in
violation of the law.
Yours
truly,
Leo
F. Saldanha
Coordinator
Environment
Support Group
(A non-profit public interest research, training and advocacy initiative)
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