Tamil Nadu awaiting in-principle approval from Centre for airport project

Chennai: Notwithstanding protests against the project nearing 1,000 days, the Tamil Nadu government is preparing to launch the bidding process for building the greenfield airport for Chennai in Parandur in Kanchipuram district once it receives the in-principle approval from the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation.

The state government has also applied for environmental clearance for construction of the airport which will be spread over an area of 5,400 acres and built at a cost of about Rs 30,000 crore.

Though the government chose Parandur from among four sites surveyed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in August 2022, the ambitious project has hit a roadblock due to protests by villagers of Ekanapuram, where the runway is likely to come up.

Despite promises like compensation to the tune of three times the market value and a government job for one person from the affected families, a section of the villagers are standing their ground that they won’t part with their land. While almost all political parties support the airport project, actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) and Naam Tamizhar Katchi (NTK) are the only parties that are standing by the villagers.

Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) is also working with stakeholders in preparing the Master Plan for rehabilitating 1,000 families from 13 villages that will be affected by the project.

“The Master Plan will cover housing facilities and other necessary infrastructure for people who have to be moved out of their villages to make way for the airport. We are very particular that these people should be resettled at the earliest,” a source in the know told DH.

Even as the protests are on – the agitation by Ekanapuram residents will reach 1000th day in the next few weeks – the government is going ahead with acquiring land in near-by villages.

In August, the Civil Aviation Ministry granted the site approval following which TIDCO applied for an in-principle approval for the project. “The MoCA has sought a few queries on our application and we have sent our responses. We hope to receive the clearance very soon,” a source in the know told DH.

Once the in-principle approval is granted, the source explained, TIDCO will go ahead with the process to float bids for choosing the concessionaire for building the facility, which will have two runways, an aero city, and a cargo village.

“We have already begun work on the tender process. Once we get the in-principle approval, we will float the tender and even choose the bidder,” another source in the know said. However, the construction can’t begin till TIDCO receives environmental clearance (EC) from the Environment Ministry at the Centre.

The second source added that TIDCO is working towards getting the EC by the end of 2025.

Environmentalists also warn that going ahead with the project would lead to hydro ecological problems and flooding in the new facility, which will be built by destroying dozens of water bodies. However, the government says steps will be taken to “preserve the flow of water” and ensure that the water drains naturally so as to prevent any flooding at the new facility.

The government constituted a team of experts from the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) who have given suggestions to ensure natural flow of water.

Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol told Lok Sabha on February 6 in response to a question raised by DMK MP Tamizhachi Thangapandian that prior to grant of site clearance, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation observed that there should be appropriate mitigation plans for wildlife, bird habitat and also proper plan to avoid water logging or flooding in and around the aerodrome.