Foot march to Navi Mumbai airport planned as DB Patil renaming row reaches flashpoint

Coastal communities in Navi Mumbai plan a mass march to demand the airport be named after leader DB Patil, threatening to halt operations if ignored.

Navi Mumbai: The long-simmering agitation to rename the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) after project-affected people’s (PAP) leader DB Patil has surged into its most confrontational phase yet, with coastal communities announcing a mass foot march and threatening to halt airport operations just days before the first commercial flight.

Foot march to Navi Mumbai airport planned as DB Patil renaming row reaches flashpoint

In a dramatic escalation, organisers said thousands of villagers from the Agri-Koli community and other coastal groups will begin a march from Bhiwandi on December 22, demanding that the government formally approve the DB Patil name before flights commence on December 25.

The dispute, rooted in an emotive demand to honour Patil, celebrated for leading the fight for fair land compensation, has sharpened as the inauguration date nears. At a meeting of coastal organisations in Mankoli, Bhiwandi, earlier this week, protest leaders finalised their strategy for what they say will be a “decisive” mobilisation.

“From Bhiwandi alone, 15,000 to 20,000 protestors will march on December 22 if no confirmation on the name is given by December 20,” said Bhiwandi MP Suresh (Balya Mama) Mhatre, one of the movement’s most visible faces. “By the time we reach the airport on December 24, at least one lakh sons of the soil from five districts will join. If DB Patil’s name is not affixed by then, we will begin an indefinite airport shutdown.”

The sharpened tone reflects mounting frustration over repeated delays. Successive state governments, including both the previous MVA and the current Mahayuti administration, passed resolutions backing the renaming, but the proposal remains stuck with the Union Cabinet.

A large “Jan Aakrosh Morcha” planned for October was called off only after chief minister Devendra Fadnavis assured leaders on October 3 that the process would be completed “within two to two-and-a-half months.” With that deadline now expired, and the Bombay High Court recently refusing to intervene on the grounds that the matter lies strictly within the executive’s purview, local anger has crested.

For many in the region, the fight is about far more than a name. Leaders have framed the agitation as a struggle for the dignity of original inhabitants who surrendered their land for regional development.

“Every organisation has accepted responsibility to mobilise from each taluka and village,” said Nilesh Patil, president of the Agri Koli Youth Foundation. “This is not just a protest, it is a decisive fight for dignity. We will not step back until DB Patil’s name is secured.”

Villagers from Thane, Vasai, Kalyan-Dombivli, Uran, Panvel and Mumbai are expected to participate, and locals have already erected unofficial signboards pointing to “Loknete DB Patil International Airport.”

The issue has also reached Delhi. Raising the matter in the Lok Sabha on December 4, MP Mhatre warned that ignoring local sentiment could trigger a law-and-order situation. “Naming the airport after DB Patil is the rightful claim of the people who built this city,” he said. “This airport cannot begin operations under any other name.”

Dashrath Patil, president of the Loknete DB Patil Navi Mumbai International Airport All Party Action Committee, said the community’s patience was wearing thin. “The state has passed a resolution and sent it to the Centre. The chief minister has said the Prime Minister is positive, but that a format has to be followed,” he said. “We want to know what that format is, and what progress has been made.”