Worry, anger, and helplessness as residents come to grips with news of Chennai’s new airport

“We have lost sleep and we are hardly having any meals. The happiness we had all these years is destroyed by the announcement from the government,” says 52-year-old Tamil Selvi, who farms on leased land at Nagapattu.

According to K Balaraman, panchayat president of Parandur, about 3,000 families here depend on agriculture. “We came to know about the airport through the media. We are very upset about it as our livelihoods will be affected. What will we do if we lose our land and house? All the residents of Parandur are against the airport. They do not want it here,” he said.

A field in Parandur (Express photo)

Balaraman said initially he believed the airport would be constructed at some other area in the district and would fetch jobs for the youths of his village. But he felt as if he were hit by a thunderbolt when he learnt that the government would acquire the land on which his house sits.

A public hearing on the airport project was held at the collectorate on August 16, a day after residents unanimously passed a resolution against the project at a Grama Sabha meeting. “We were told the hearing would start around 9 am, but no officials turned up till 11:45 am. Later the officials told the representatives from 13 villages who gathered there that they would talk to each representative in person. All of us said that we would speak to the authorities together only and we left the collectorate,” Balaraman said.

Ministers Thangam Thennarasu, E V Velu and T M Anbarasan, and Sriperumbudur MLA K Selvaperunthagai attended the public hearing.

The panchayat president dismissed the government’s promises of alternative land and livelihood options. “This is my place; I was born and raised here. There are around 3,000 families here, where will they go?.. The water will never taste the same. Let the authorities come here and speak to the residents. Only then we can arrive at a solution,” Balaraman said.

According to Balaraman, 90 per cent of the residents depend on agriculture and even the few who have government or private jobs are engaged in farming as well.

Worry writ large on their faces, around 50 MGNREGA workers sat near a temple. Kuppan (58) said, “If a new airport is constructed without causing any damage to our livelihoods, we welcome that. However, people fear their agricultural land will be taken over and they will be deported to an unfamiliar area. We will not let that happen.”

Subramani (75), standing beside him, asked whether it would be possible for him to adapt to a new place at his age.

Kanima (80) said that residents were ready to die for their land. “We cannot survive in other areas; we will come back to this place. We were born here, we are raised here and we are ready to die here,” she said.

Black flags on houses

Black flags have been hoisted on many houses around Parandhur, Ekanapuram and Nagapattu. Residents also raise slogans and hold rallies against the project.

Black flags have been hoisted on many houses around Parandhur, Ekanapuram and Nagapattu. (Express photo)

Prema (60), a resident, feared people from other states would get the jobs generated by the airport.
“Let them run a bulldozer over us and take our lands. We will protest against the proposed airport project till our last breath” another woman said.

Manju (26) was worried if she would get the same facilities in the new place where she would be resettled. “If we move to a new place, it will be like starting from scratch again. If the government decides to take over Parandur, we will stage a massive protest,” she said.

Residents of Parandur have been apprehensive and felt helpless as they have no clue about how the project is going to be implemented (Express photo)

Balaji (37), a Nagapattu-based businessman who also has agricultural land, felt Parandur was not the right place to construct an airport. “Just look around the entire village, it is covered by a thick blanket of greenery. We have water in all lakes and they are interconnected. Even if one of them is disturbed for the project, it will have an impact on everything. Around 950 acres here are surrounded by waterbodies,” he said, adding that the villagers would support the project if it were for building a road.

“Lack of communication has been the biggest issue here. None from the government side has stepped into the villages to inform us whether our requests are being discussed,” Balaji said.

Environmental concerns

Speaking to indianexpress.com, G Sundarrajan of Poovulagin Nanbargal, a Chennai-based environmental organisation, said the government should do a detailed study before starting the construction work.

“As per the tentative project map, the runway of the airport will block the third-order stream and many waterbodies. If you block a third-order stream, it is bound to get inundated. It will flood the airport. The Mudichur area got flooded because of the construction of the secondary runway over the Adyar river because that blocks the flow of the river,” he said, adding that building an airport over a waterbody would have made sense in the 1970s, but not when climate change was wreaking havoc everywhere.

Sundarrajan also said flooding in Thiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu would lead to inundation in Chennai. He suggested the government expand Chennai airport by acquiring more space nearby or take over a part of the defence airport.

Elango (44) of Eknapuram termed the public hearing as eyewash and urged ministers to talk to residents. “Should we be made scapegoats for the happiness of a few people? The public hearing held at the collectorate was just eyewash…If the residents say yes, they can go ahead with their plan,” he said.

Many police personnel were spotted in villages around Parandur. A resident alleged that local functionaries of the ruling DMK had threatened to frame in criminal cases the residents who protest or speak to the media.

Why Parandur?

The state government announced on Friday that it would offer 3.5 times the market value for land acquired in 13 villages for the airport.

EV Velu, minister for public works, said the existing airport would reach its saturation level by 2029 and that from a list of 11 places, the government had shortlisted Pannur, Parandur, Tiruporur and Padalam as four possible sites.

While Padalam and Tiruporur were dropped as they are situated close to the Kalpakkam nuclear plant and the defence airbase at Tambaram, Pannur had many residential complexes, the minister explained.

“All the people who are shifted from one area will be accommodated together in some other area that has been marked by the officials. This government will fulfil all their demands,” he said, adding that IIT-Madras would be consulted to address the concerns about building an airport over a waterbody.

A total of 4,563.56 acres spread across the 13 villages are to be acquired, the minister said, adding that 3,246.38 acres of this are private patta lands. As many as 1,005 households would be affected.

A week ago, minister Thangam Thennarasu said that even though the Nelvai lake, spread over 360 acres, fell in the project area it would be deepened and protected. The minister further said the new airport was being built considering the air transportation needs for the next 30-35 years. Besides, as per a survey of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, every Rs 100 spent on air transportation will generate revenue worth Rs 325, he said.

The proposal for a second airport for Chennai was made in the late 1990s. Nearly two decades later, on August 1, 2022, junior civil aviation minister V K Singh told the Rajya Sabha that the Tamil Nadu government had shortlisted Parandur as the location for it.

Chief Minister M K Stalin said Chennai must have a new airport to meet its demands, attain the goal of a $1-trillion economy and make the state capital the best investment destination in Asia.

Chennai airport handles approximately 2.2 crore passengers a year and this number may go up to 3.5 crore in the next seven years, the DMK leader said. According to him, the new airport at Parandur will be capable of handling close to 10 crore passengers annually.

The project will cost Rs 20,000 crore approximately, but the final cost will be available after a detailed project report is prepared, Stalin said.