Kancheepuram: Protest against airport revives after govt ad
Though a series of protests, including night meetings, were regularly held by the villagers protesting against the acquisition of their land that include fertile paddy fields and green groves, the government went ahead with its proposal and started the process of taking over the land under the ‘Tamil Nadu Acquisition of Land for Industrial Purposes Act’
Chennai: Advertisements announcing the acquisition of 6,19,250 square metres of land in Eganapuram village for the ‘New Green Field Airport’ proposed at Eganapuram village district in leading newspapers on Wednesday triggered another round of protest on the ground where potential land losers had been up in arms against the airport project ever since it was announced in 2022.
Though a series of protests, including night meetings, were regularly held by the villagers protesting against the acquisition of their land that include fertile paddy fields and green groves, the government went ahead with its proposal and started the process of taking over the land under the ‘Tamil Nadu Acquisition of Land for Industrial Purposes Act.’
At one point, when the people realized that the government was in no way prepared to give up on its plan for the second airport for Chennai at Paradur, which would lead to 4,700 acres of land in 20 villages being lost for the project, they even threatened to give up their residency in the State and migrate to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
The advertisements in newspapers on Wednesday led to the people regrouping themselves in Eganapuram, which has been the hub of the protest right from the beginning and venue for the night protests, and deciding to continue with the resistance to give up their houses, land and other properties.
They said they would not sacrifice their livelihood by losing their agricultural, water and residential sources and would only intensify the protest. Men and women had gathered in large numbers under the shamianas erected for the protest.
During the prolonged protest earlier, spanning 764 days, the people had taken out rallies, met Ministers at the Secretariat, hoisted black flags in their houses, undertaken fasts, taken out tractor rallies, boycotted elections, stopped children from attending schools and kept away from grama sabha meetings.
Yet the government move to implement the airport project was being carried out without any hitch and now, to follow the rules, those objecting to the acquisition of their land – the names have been listed out in the advertisement that runs to four full pages of the broadsheet –have been asked to approach the exclusive office set up at Kanchipuram Ponnerikarai.