Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) on Friday shifted the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, since it came in the way of the construction of new integrated terminal at Sahar.
With the state government finally giving its sanction, MIAL shifted the statue from close to the current international terminal and shifted it to a garden near the airport. The shifting of the Chhatrapati Shivaji statue, which was due for over a year, causing delays in the completion of the integrated terminal, an MIAL official had recently said. MIAL has completed 75 per cent of the terminal work. According to MIAL, the new terminal would have floor area of 4.3 million square metres and would have four levels.
Currently, Mumbai airport handles 30 million passengers a year. However, the new terminal is being designed to handle 40 million passengers annually.
Political parties such as the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party had opposed the shifting of the statue, but had agreed to wind up their protests following assurances that MIAL would construct a grand Chhatrapati Shivaji memorial.