Shirdi bandh over govt plea on airport

A day after Shirdi observed a bandh to oppose the state government’s request for Rs50 crore from the temple trust for building Shirdi airport, those in support of the proposal staged a counter protest with a hunger strike.

The Shirdi airport is being built by the Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation Limited at a cost of Rs300 crores. The government has acquired 350 hectares of land at Kakade village some 12km outside the temple town for the project.

The airport is proposed to be ready by December 2011 but scarcity of funds has delayed the project. A similar plan in 2008 by the temple trust to contribute to the construction cost for the airport was stalled after protests by local residents.

The shrine trust says that the airport will boost religious tourism and industrial development around the town. Chairperson of the Shirdi temple trust Jayant Sasane said, “The government will take the decision on how to fund the airport. Since a large number of devotees come from abroad, an airport will make their travel to Shirdi easier.”

He added that a decision on whether the trust should fund the airport project would be taken after consulting the state law and judiciary department which has jurisdiction over the temple trust.

Apart from opposing the funding of the airport, the protesters demanded the dissolution of the current board of trustees, a 50% representation for locals in the new board, an inquiry into the management of the present board by a retired judge and dissolution of the Shirdi Development Board.