Navi Mumbai: 50,000-people protest march puts officials on the edge

Nearly half a lakh people gathered at Belapur on Thursday demanding that the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport be named after local leader DiBa Patil in brazen disregard for warnings from civic officials and requests from the police While authorities fear the lsquoshow of strengthrsquo could turn out to be a Covid19 superspreader the protesters said they were aware of the pandemic but couldnrsquot sit at home when their pride was at stakeThe massing of people from Navi Mumbai Thane Uran Palghar and Nashik was the fallout of a massive controversy that erupted after the state government proposed to name the airport after Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray Residents from Navi Mumbai Raigad and Thane districts want the aviation facility to bear the name of local leader Dinkar Balu Patil aka DiBa Patil for his work for the sons of soil in the areaA human chain protest had been held on June 10 and a call for ldquoCIDCO Gheraordquo was given on Patilrsquos death anniversary June 24 The late Patil who was elected as MP twice and was an MLA for five terms was instrumental in fighting for respectable compensation for Navi Mumbai residents During a protest led by him in 1984 five people were killed and hundreds including Patil were injured in police firingWith the state government moving cautiously over public movement particularly with the emergence of the Delta Plus variant the local police and municipal authorities had asked the public not to assemble in large numbers as it could trigger the spread of Coronavirus While thousands of notices were served on protesters to avoid Thursdayrsquos gathering nearly 50000 still showed up a majority of them with masks covering only the chinldquoI am aware of the pandemic situation For more than one and a half years I have not ventured out except for essential work but this protest is important to usrdquo said Sunanda Patil a Raigad resident who had come with her family ldquoThe airport hasnrsquot been completed but they have named it already without even considering our sentiments This is unacceptable so we had no choice but to take this riskrdquo she addedYoung Saee rode a bicycle for 25 km from Thane to join the protestAuto driver Sainath Morbekar 23 had come to the CIDCO Bhavan the protest venue from Belpada in Kharghar ldquoOur entire village has skipped work to join the protest DiBa gave us recognition and justice How can I not come for this protest I donrsquot fear Covid19 people have laid down their lives for this land without caring for bullets We will not step back fearing a virusrdquo he saidSaee Patil 10 probably the youngest of the protesters rode a bicycle for 25 kilometres from Thane to Belapur Her father Ashish Patil said ldquoWhen I was calling others and discussing the protest Saee asked whatrsquos the reason for the protest After I explained the matter to her she wanted to participate in it too I told there will be a crowd and fear of Covid19 but she said she wanted to protestrdquo Saee hogged all attention after her efforts were lauded on the stageA huge crowd surrounded the girl to take pictures with herAfter the protest an allparty action committee handed over a resolution to CIDCO officials urging them to propose DiBarsquos name for the airport soon ldquoWe are holding any further protest till August 15 If no decisions are taken as per our demand we will not allow any work related to the airport from August 16rdquo said MLA Prashant Thakur an advisor to the committeeWill book protesters policeThe Navi Mumbai police said they would register cases against those who gathered for the ldquoCIDCO gheraordquo event despite permission being denied ldquoWe are in process of registering an offence at NRI police station against the organisers and participantsrdquo said DCP zone 2 Shivraj PatilTraffic jamsTo avoid any untoward incident and traffic congestion the Navi Mumba traffic police roads leading to Belapur were blocked by Navi Mumbai Traffic Police Despite diversions congestions were witnessed at Vashi Kalamboli and AiroliThe protest led to a huge traffic jam on SionPanvel road near Belapur PicsShadab KhanAirport protest grounds APMC mkt opsAs thousands of protesters demanding the naming of Navi Mumbai airport after local leader DiBa Patil descended on Belapur on Thursday the gathering triggered traffic jams and crippled operations at Vashirsquos APMC marketTraders at the wholesale market who are already hit due to the Covid19 pandemic said trucks and containers were not allowed to enter Mumbai which cost them the dayrsquos businessBhimji Bhanushali secretary of the Grain Rice amp Oilseeds Merchantsrsquo Association GROMA said ldquoDue to the protest traffic was diverted in the morning and there were huge jams in many areas of Navi Mumbai On ThaneBelapur Road from Vashi to Mahape to Shilphata took 25 hours More than 1000 motorists suffered due to heavy traffic Many traders could not reach their shops at APMCrdquoThe otherwise bustling APMC market was deserted on ThursdayHe said no work was done at the market since vehicles from outside were not allowed to enter the premisesKetan Jasani a wholesaler of onions and potatoes said ldquoOnly small vehicles were allowed in the market Neither goods nor customers reached the market Even our workers struggled to report on time due to road congestion This protest badly hit our businessrdquoVijay Bhuta the president of Navi Mumbai Dry Fruits Merchant Association said ldquoThose traders who somehow managed to reach APMC got stuck and could not deliver goods to their customersrdquoMotorists were equally frustrated Priya Mahajan who works in the corporate sector said ldquoI left home at 830 am from Panvel to my Bandra office in my car The Kharghar highway was closed and not a single vehicle could move for an hour A police officer told us to go via the ThaneAiroli route which was not possible for us I had to return home but not before wasting one whole hour in trafficrdquo Rohit Parikh