Villagers call off protest against airport after talks with ministers

Residents of Eganapuram on Saturday declared that they were “putting off” the march towards the Tamil Nadu Assembly next week in protest against a greenfield airport for Chennai after talks with three senior ministers, who are understood to have given an assurance to look into their concerns.

The government, represented by Public Works Department minister E V Velu, Industries Minister Thangam Thenarasu, and MSME minister T M Anbarasan, told the villagers that their concerns over potential damage to Kamban Canal over the Kosasthalaiyar River and their demand to save their habitats by changing the alignment of the airport will be considered.

The ministers reiterated to the villagers, who were represented by eight farmers, that the government is committed to providing adequate compensation – 3.5 times the market rate and a job to one person in each family -- for those giving their land for the project.

“We have decided to call off the protest march scheduled for Monday. The government has given an assurance to look into our demands. We wanted our village to be saved and the ministers responded saying they will ask the technical committee to study the feasibility of changing the alignment. We trust the words of the ministers,” one of the representatives said.

An official release from the government said the villagers told the ministers that 2,400 people live in the hamlet and their prime occupation was agriculture. “The Kamban Canal that runs through the village is part of the land to be acquired for the airport. The village should be saved, and the government should ensure this,” the representatives told the ministers.

Anbarasan told DH that they briefed Chief Minister M K Stalin on their consultation with the villagers. “He (CM) asked us to ensure that people’s concerns are addressed, and no one should be adversely affected due to the project. We will take people into confidence and enlist their support. We have no plans of going back on the location for the airport,” Anbarasan said.

The villagers, who refuse to part with their land for the greenfield airport project, had planned to march from Parandur, 70 km from Chennai, on October 17 when the Tamil Nadu Assembly convenes and reach Chennai the next day to register their protest.

The villagers have been up in arms since mid-August after the government decided to build the airport at a cost of Rs 20,000 crore, alleging that such a move would “wipe away” agriculture in the locality besides putting large water bodies in danger.

The new airport, which is expected to be built at a cost of Rs 20,000 crore, will have two run ways, multiple terminal buildings, taxiways, aprons, and cargo terminal among other infrastructure. It is being built to handle about 10 crore passengers a year.

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.

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.