The Air Force station in Thanjavur has grown to a full-fledged fighter base but the woes of the people of Inathukanpatti village who gave their land for the station persist.
The people of this village near Thanjavur had given 763 acres of their fertile land for the expansion of the Air Force Station. Though they have got compensation for their lands, their demand for resettlement at an alternative site is yet to be met. Surrounded on three sides by the compound wall of the Air Force station, villagers say their movement is restricted due to the tight security.
The airbase in Thanjavur has been functioning from the Second World War. The Air Force started acquiring land for expansion from 1993. It acquired 763 acres in Inathukanpatti, 667 acres in Nanjikottai panchayat and 107 acres in Pillaiyarpatti.
Till 1992, Inathukanpatti was a fertile village and the people had been raising paddy, groundnut and sugarcane using agriculture pumpsets.
Defence Minister A.K.Antony, who dedicated the Air Force Station to the nation on May 27, assured residents of Inathukanpatti that they will be resettled soon. But how soon will that be is the question that is foremost on the minds of the villagers, who have been waiting for nearly 15 years now for resettlement.
Residents say the village has become an island, cut off from other villages as the Air Force area engulfed them on all sides. They have to use the Air Force road to go to Thanjavur.
“We can't move freely as the village is surrounded by defence area. Often, we have to answer questions from the security guards. People cannot go to work in the early hours or return late in the evening. Children studying in Thanjavur are finding it difficult to reach their schools in time. School buses do not turn up. They have to walk a long distance and catch buses to reach schools. Even vegetable vendors do not come to the village. It is better if they resettle us quickly,” said Selvarani, one of the villagers.
A proposal has already been sent to the Defence Ministry to resettle the villagers in the new place building houses and providing all facilities to them and take Inathukanpatti village for Air Force.
Koothaperumal, a driver, said revenue officials visited the village many times in the past and gave assurances that they would be resettled soon. “We were told that 20 acres of land under survey number 4/5, which is near our village, have been identified for our resettlement. We are also ready to go there, but orders have not been issued,” he said.
Now that the Air Force station at Thanjavur has become a major air base and fighter planes such as Sukhoi-30 are to be located there, there might be noise pollution, too, another resident fears.
