Demolition starts at Air India Colony near Mumbai airport

Mumbai: The Mumbai Airport on Wednesday started the demolition of 20 structures at the Air India Colony near the airport which led to a protest by a section of the employees of now Tata Group-owned airline.

The Adani Group-controlled Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) said these structures were uninhabited and dilapidated, and it had obtained all due permissions before starting the demolition.

The action meant "an aviation chapter" was ending, lamented a former office-bearer of an Air India union while sharing a video of the protest at the Colony, located in Mumbai's Kalina area, on social media.

The Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), earlier under the State-controlled Airports Authority of India (AAI), was privatised in May 2006, with first GVK-led consortium owning it and later Adani Group taking control in July 2021.

"Mumbai International Airport Limited has initiated the demolition of 20 uninhabited, dilapidated structures at the Air India Colony, conducted in strict adherence to the law and in accordance with the permission / handover granted by AIAHL, the PSU Asset Holding Company of Erstwhile Air India," a spokesperson of MIAL said in a statement.

The action was part of its comprehensive redevelopment plan of the airport land, MIAL said, adding that "at present, no demolition steps have been undertaken for the remaining 80 plus buildings within the colony which are currently occupied."

The private airport operator also said that due process of law by filing eviction applications under the AAI Act is being followed. "Considering Mumbai Airport is a land constrained aviation asset, this redevelopment initiative is a crucial step in the airport's ongoing efforts to contribute to the expansion and improvement of existing passenger facilities, thus fostering the growth and progress of Mumbai," the spokesperson said.

Sanjay Lazar, former general secretary of the Air India Cabin Crew Association, shared a video of the protest at the site on X that showed a group of men and women stopping a bulldozer in the presence of police personnel.

"An #Aviation chapter ends, as I woke up to images of Air India employees protesting as Adanis bulldozers moved in on the Indian Airlines colony today," he tweeted. "Bus loads of policemen & demolition teams began as protesting ladies & gents clung to the buildings to prevent it. It's a moment of heartbreak for those of us who visited the Air India & Indian Airlines colonies as kids 50 years ago. I remember playing there with some of my best friends & even stayed there briefly 2 years ago," he said.

The Bombay High Court had in March last year dismissed petitions filed by three Air India Employees' Unions challenging the airline's decision to evict them from the staff quarters in the colony, noting that accommodation is not provided as a matter of right or was not a term of employment.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice S V Gangapurwala and Justice Sandeep Marne had said that monetization of lands and properties of Air India Ltd was one of the essential terms of the airline's disinvestment process. If employees continue to hold on to the flats then the Air India Asset Holding Company would not be able to monetize the land to reduce the burden of debt of Air India Ltd, the HC had noted.