World Connect News
[ad_1]
This is a huge and decisive turning point in the politics and aviation sector of Tamil Nadu, where the government of Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay has discovered two brand new and alternative locations for the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA), soon after officially canceling the much-discussed and long-controversial Parandoor Greenfield Airport project. According to concrete information received from government sources, the state government has identified Manellore and Cheyyur as possible and suitable sites for the second international airport, and the detailed technical recommendations of both these places have been officially sent to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for in-depth study and feasibility survey. Ever since these two alternative sites came to light, murmurs have intensified in the administrative corridors and industrial areas of the state as to whether Chennai will be able to get its second big aviation gift in these areas in the coming days or not.
These two new sites were selected on the basis of distance and geographical location from Chennai.
If we look at the geographical location and distance from the city of these two new sites shortlisted by the state government, Manellor is located at a distance of about 60 kilometers from Chennai city, which is considered very suitable in terms of connectivity and urban expansion, while the other site Cheyyur is located towards the south, about 100 kilometers away from Chennai. Interestingly, when the Cheyyur site first came into limelight about 7 years ago, it was included in the list of a total of 11 potential locations, but it was not included in the four major shortlisted sites (Parandur, Pannur, Tirupotur and Padalam) chosen by the previous DMK government between 2021 and 2026. The government’s main objective behind the selection of these two selected sites is to ensure that the metropolis meets the growing aviation needs in the coming decades with minimal negative impact on the densely populated and sensitive ecosystem. Along with this, work on modernization and expansion of the existing Meenambakkam Airport in Chennai will also continue in parallel, under which AAI plans to build a new state-of-the-art passenger-handling system in the north-west part of the existing airport and has sought permission to construct new roads to seamlessly connect it to the National Highway, to which the Vijay government has assured full administrative cooperation.
Farmers’ interest and political reasons behind canceling Parandur project
This bold and big decision of Chief Minister Vijay to suddenly cancel the huge Parandur project worth about Rs 27,400 crore proposed by the previous DMK (DMK) government has been strongly attacked by the main opposition parties of the state, but the government seems to be completely firm on its decision. Strongly defending his move on the floor of the Assembly, Chief Minister Vijay made it clear in no uncertain terms that a second airport is essential for the future growing industrial and commercial needs of Greater Chennai, but no such development work can be done at the huge cost of fertile agricultural land and residential settlements of poor farmers. In this matter, State Energy and Law Minister R. Nirmal Kumar made a sensational claim in the Assembly, saying that the previous government had started the controversial process of hastily acquiring about 5,846 acres of vast land without any kind of ‘Environment Impact Assessment’ (EIA) or necessary legal approvals. The TVK government also argued that out of the total land proposed, about 1,558 acres of government land was actually in the form of canals, ponds and important water bodies, which was technically completely unsuitable for the construction of any runway.
Environmental sensitivity and displacement of thousands of farmers became the reason for cancellation of Parandur.
There are several very solid and practical reasons given for the Vijay government’s complete rejection of the Parandur airport site, the most prominent of which was that the proposed site was being built on approximately 5,746 acres of fertile and multi-crop agricultural land, which would have forever taken away the ancestral land and livelihood of thousands of Annadata farmers in the area. Additionally, the local residents of Parandur and surrounding villages had been holding unprecedented and strong protests against this ambitious project for more than 1,150 days continuously, as this mega project would have displaced a large number of people from their homes. The scope of this proposed site also included several major water bodies and ecologically highly sensitive wetland areas, which geographically play an extremely important role as natural flood barriers for Chennai and its surrounding districts. Chief Minister Vijay had strongly opposed Parandur Airport during his election campaign and had made an open promise to the farmers that if his government comes to power, he would be the first to cancel this anti-people project, which he has completed as soon as he took charge.
Political attacks and counterattacks and big challenges in the future
The political tussle between the ruling party and the opposition on this entire issue has reached its peak, where DMK’s strong argument is that suddenly canceling any development project midway after more than 90 percent of the work has been completed has slowed down the pace of industrial development of the state and has also caused a huge economic blow to the confidence of investors from India and abroad. In response, the ruling party clarified that it was the highest moral and electoral duty of their government to save the poor farmers of Eknapuram and 12 surrounding villages, who were on strike for more than 1,150 days, from being uprooted from their homes and rendered homeless, which they have fulfilled with full sincerity. Now amidst all the political and administrative turmoil, all eyes are on the final technical report of the Airport Authority of India (AAI), which will decide which alternative location, Manellor or Cheyyur, will finally be approved and pave the way for the new airport of Chennai.