Prolonged protest: People have been protesting against the Parandur project for more than 900 days.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Officials on Tuesday said the Tamil Nadu government would consider the issues faced by the people at Parandur, in connection with the proposed airport project, if leaders of political parties brought them to its notice.

“It is well-known that the Dravidian model of governance has been prioritising people’s welfare while drafting programmes,” they said. Referring to the high-level committee constituted to look into issues at Parandur, including hydrogeological aspects, they said the government would consider its recommendations.

Justifying the selection of Parandur for the proposed second airport for Chennai, officials maintained that the government had chosen the site over Pannur owing to multiple factors. It was the erstwhile AIADMK government that had chosen the Parandur site in 2020, they said, adding that the proximity of the Parandur site to the proposed Chennai-Bengaluru Highway was one of the factors.

While 1,546 families reside at Pannur, only 1,005 families live at Parandur, and hence the factors that affect aviation have been fewer. Citing the existence of several extra high-tension lines in and around the proposed site in Pannur, they said: “Sufficient vacant land necessary for airport functions and other requirements is available at Parandur. Since habitations and industrial units exist near Pannur, land acquisition for the airport is difficult…”

The officials further said Parandur has vast stretches of vacant land, and hence, development activities could be planned in the future as well. “It is to be noted that site at Parandur was chosen by the erstwhile [AIADMK] administration in 2020 much before this [the DMK] government assumed office. With the airport in Parandur, there are prospects of progress, including industrial development,” they reiterated.They further said that compared with the airports in Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru, the one in Chennai is small. About eight crore passengers are expected to use the Chennai airport in the next 10 years. , necessitating the establishment of the second airport.

Continuing stir

Two years ago, S.D. Kathiresan, a farmer-resident of Ekanapuram, and his friends went door to door in the village informing people about why they should oppose the project at Parandur. “We have crossed 900 days of protest, and are heading towards the 1,000th day. We will not stop till the government decides to drop the project.” he said. While the Tamil Nadu government has been eagerly awaiting the project approval from the Centre, farmers are steadfast in their stand against the airport. TVK leader Vijay’s visit to Parandur on Monday had resulted in several people sharing their views on social media.

The ₹29,144-crore airport will displace hundreds of families in 13 villages in and around the area. Elango, another resident of Ekanapuram, said: “When we began the protest, we did not know how successful it would turn out to be. But we were firm that the project should not be implemented. But now, as we gradually get support from all the sides, we feel that the airport is unlikely to come up.”

G. Sundarrajan of Poovulagin Nanbargal said some people were keen on having a second airport for the city as they were unhappy with the manner in which the existing one was being maintained. “What we need is a world-class operator to manage the airport. Instead, building a new airport isn’t going to help. It will only cause an adverse impact,” he said.

He said that while the government created a committee that prepared a hydrogeological study on the impact of the Parandur airport project, no one had been able to access it so far. “One of our members filed a request under the RTI Act for the document, but they refused to share it stating that it was classified. The lack of transparency creates further doubts about the damage the project could cause.”