Fernandes demands inclusive development of airport village

By Staff
|
Google Oneindia News

New Delhi, Feb 9 (UNI) NDA Convener George Fernandes today urged President A P J Abdul Kalam to ask the Centre to adopt a constructive approach in dealing with poor residents of Nangal Dewat village located in between Centaur Hotel and New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Mr Fernandes, who met President this afternoon, said a majority of these villagers belonged to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes living in the area for generations. The land was acquired for airport expansion with no alternative rehabilitation plans. Despite an existing court stay, the Delhi Development Authority had threatened to cancel unhabitable alternative land proposed at Ranpuri and evict them from their houses in Nangal Dewat. The entire village had been barricaded and drinking water and sewage flow denied to turn the village into a unhealthy gutter, unfit for human habitation.

He said the village could be converted into a model village with government support to set an example of inclusive humanitarian development. This project could be a tourist spot which is sought to be engulfed for commercial activities like mall development and golf course.

Earlier in the day, Mr Fernandes sat on a dharna at Jantar Mantar in support of the Nangal Dewat villagers and later went to Rashtrapati Bhawan to submit a petition.

UNI

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