IAF objection halts construction near Thane base for over a year

After the army and navy, it is now the Indian Air Force that wants builders to stop construction near its base in Thane. For more than a year, building activity close to the Indian Air Force (IAF) station at Kolshet Road in Thane (West) has come to a standstill after the station commander wrote to the local authorities not to approve projects near the base. In a letter to the Thane municipal commissioner early last year, station commander Manu Kapoor said no construction be permitted up to 750m, especially on the chopper approach funnel, to ensure “safe helicopter operations”. The air force station was developed in 1968 and is spread over 146.8 acres. Property market sources in Thane told media that more than two dozen residential projects with over 10 million sq ft space in the pipeline have been stalled. Only a few select builders have managed to receive the no-objection certificate from the IAF, it is learnt. Last month it was reported how around 2,500 families in Mumbai’s eastern suburb of Ghatkopar have been left high and dry with the navy refusing permission for redevelopment of their buildings.