The land in Karenahalli on Kanakapura main road shortlisted for Bengaluru's second international airport.
Credit: DH File Photo
Bengaluru: Residents in and around Kanakapura Road and Nelamangala — three locations being considered for housing Bengaluru’s second airport — are already getting used to aeroplanes flying overhead, as the Airport Authority of India (AAI) carries out inspections in the area.
While locals on Kanakapura Road remain optimistic about the airport development, Nelamangala and surrounding areas don’t show the same enthusiasm.
Hanumakka, an 83-year-old farmer from Karenahalli near Kanakapura Road, is amused by the sudden aerial movement in her neighbourhood. She and her family own about eight acres of land in the village, where they grow finger millet (ragi) and corn, and vegetables like hyacinth beans (avarekalu).
“This is all fertile land. Generations of my family have made a living from this land. If the government or any builder want us to move from here, they should, in return, provide us with enough money to purchase equally profitable land in the city,” she says. Business owners on Kanakapura Road are also largely in favour of the second airport, aiming to make a profit from the rise in land prices.
In comparison, locals in and around Nelamangala are not keen about the news of the locality being shortlisted for the second airport.
Ravi, a 56-year-old farmer, believes a second airport is not a necessity. “They’ll take our land and commercialise the whole neighbourhood, and in the end, it is us, the poor, who will be pushed aside. We don’t travel in planes, and the development won’t help us in any way. Instead, the government can focus on things that will benefit the public, like better roads and fewer traffic jams,” he said.
Nelamangala residents also fear that the new airport will add to their existing traffic woes.
Residents of villages on the Nelamangala-Kunigal stretch, with the support of the local leaders, plan to organise protests if the neighbourhood is finalised for airport development.
The local MLA, N Shreenivasaiah, is reportedly opposed to the second airport near Nelamangala. He didn’t respond to phone calls seeking comment.