A Disappearing Hill: Temporal Dynamics of the Navi Mumbai International Airport Megaproject

Abstract The essay discusses the Navi Mumbai International Airport ( NMIA ), a megaproject that embodies the challenges and contradictions of large-scale urban development. It explores the social, environmental, and political dynamics surrounding the airport’s construction, which involves the transformation of land use, environmental changes and the displacement of local communities. The project has a complex history, starting from its proposal in the 1990s, marked by protracted planning and ongoing resistance from residents of affected villages. A major theme is the airport’s impact on local temporalities, highlighting how the project’s timeline contrasts sharply with the lived experiences of village residents, who navigate their own timelines linked to cultural practices and historical struggles against dispossession. The essay also addresses continuities between the airport and the project of Navi Mumbai and the “slow violence” of gradual destruction, all while local communities attempt to negotiate their futures amid the pressures of rapid urbanisation.