Residents of Parandur and nearby villages in the Kanchipuram district of Tamil Nadu are opposing the state government’s plan to develop Chennai’s new greenfield airport in the area, alleging that such a move would “wipe away” agriculture in the locality besides putting large water bodies in danger.
Parandur, 70 km from Chennai, has been chosen for the state capital’s second airport, with the existing facility struggling to handle the ever-growing passenger rush.
The new airport, expected to be built at a cost of Rs 20,000 crore, will have two runways, multiple terminal buildings, taxiways, aprons, and a cargo terminal, among other infrastructure. It is being built to handle about ten crore passengers a year.
The location is close to the Chennai-Bengaluru National Highway and Sriperumbudur, which boasts massive industrial estates owned by the state government, which plans to develop a new township around the proposed airport that would also decongest Chennai.
However, residents of Parandur, Eganapuram and nearby villagers are opposing the airport project. They have announced that they will not part with their lands. They say a significant portion of the land set to be acquired is fertile, and an airport would degrade the environment in the area surrounded by nearly 30 water bodies.
“We have been cultivating paddy in our fields for three generations. This is a fertile area, and we don’t find any reason to hand over our lands to the government to build an airport. Why should an airport come up on fertile lands? We oppose the project,” Bhaskar, a resident of Parandur, told DH.
Another resident said environmental degradation is one of the many reasons why they oppose the project. “This area has several water bodies — big and small — and all of them will be in danger if an airport comes up. Also, we have wetlands in this region. The government should conduct a detailed study on the effects on the environment and agriculture before proceeding with the project,” the resident told DH over the phone.
With villagers voicing against the project, PMK chief Anbumani Ramadoss and Naam Tamizhar’s Seeman will meet residents of about seven villages whose land will be acquired for the project on Thursday and Friday, respectively. The leaders will meet with villagers and elicit their views on the proposed airport.
In response to the villagers, Industries Minister Thangam Thenarasu said the government would pay “more than the market rate” while acquiring land for the airport, which will “adequately compensate” the land owners. “It is very imperative that a new airport comes up near Chennai to meet the growing needs of people from Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram, and Chengalpattu districts and elsewhere in the state,” Thenarasu said.
He also said the government would constitute a high-level committee to devise ways to protect water bodies near Parandur.
Though the number of flights and the daily footfall have increased manifold over the years, the city is bereft of a swanky airport like the ones Bengaluru and Hyderabad boast of. The AAI has been expanding the terminal buildings in the existing airport to cater to the ever-increasing rush, but a new airport is long overdue.
The government’s 2006 plan to construct a greenfield airport in Sriperumbudur did not take off due to a slew of reasons, including opposition from PMK, which was an ally of the then DMK government. Efforts by the AIADMK government between 2011 and 2021 in this regard also did not fructify.
Besides Chennai, Tamil Nadu has four operational airports — Tiruchirapalli, Madurai, Coimbatore, and Thoothukudi. The state government has now commissioned a study to explore the feasibility of setting up an airport in the industrial city of Hosur, located just outside Bengaluru.