AAI passes the buck to State government on new airport
Chennai: The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has refused to take responsibility for the selection of the site for the second airport for Chennai at Parandur in Kanchipuram district, where the people of 20 villages, whose land would be taken away for the project, have been continuously protesting against the project for the past two years.
Replying to a letter from the Parandur Green Airport Project Protest Group and Ekanapuram Village Residents and Farmers Welfare Federation urging the shifting of the airport to another location, the AAI requested the people to ‘represent, communicate and have a dialogue with the State Government directly.’
The letter, signed by AAI Executive Director (Arch), Sujoy Dey, said the existing Chennai International Airport was likely to cross its existing capacity by the year 028-29 and that the State government had selected the Parandur site for developing the new airport.
The development of the new airport in 4,800 acres of land would entail acquisition of land in the 20 villages, including Parandur and Ekanapuram. Fertile paddy fields, coconut grooves and water bodies form part of the land that would be acquired and levelled for the building of the airport, displacing the people.
Though the government had promised adequate compensation for the land to be acquired and even held several rounds of talks with the protestors, the people had been adamant demanding a change of site for the airport. At one point they even threatened to leave the State and migrate to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh in protest against the State Government's inaction
Besides sitting continuously on protests in their villages at night hours after returning from work, the people had raised the issue in the grama sabha meetings, boycotted grama sabha meetings, taken out rallies, hoisted black flags in front of their houses and even stopped their children from attending school to express their opposition to the project coming in their land.
However, the Kanchipuram district administration had intensified its work on land acquisition and even opened an office for the purpose at a place called Kanchipuram Ponneri Karai. Special officers in the rank of deputy collectors have been appointed, official orders have been issued and newspaper advertisements have been placed in preparation of the acquisition.
Permission had also been obtained from Parliament for the setting up of the new airport and the State Government’s investment corporation, TIDCO, has been appointed as the nodal agency to carry out the project. Now the protestors propose to show the letter from AAI as evidence to demand a change in site by the State Government.