Gram sabhas in and around Parandur passed resolutions on Sunday rejecting the proposal to build a second airport for Chennai city.
L. Ilango, a farmer and a resident of Ekanapuram, said gram sabhas, including Ekanapuram, Gunagarambakkam and Parandur, passed resolutions opposing the project. This was the second time that the gram sabhas of villages in and around Parandur, which would be severely affected by the project, passed resolutions against the airport, he said.
“We have been consistently protesting with the hope that government chooses another site for the airport failing which our houses and livelihoods will be lost. Officials of the government visited us on Sunday to convince and dissuade us from passing the resolution,” he said.
Balaji. J, a farmer in Nagapattu, said that in the last 10 years, many in the village constructed houses with great difficulty. “Quite a lot of us had put in our savings into building our houses. Now, all that will be undone if this project comes.
While the government may offer us compensation but we do not have the energy to once again put in that kind of an effort,” he said. He noted that many lands identified for the airport happened to be wetlands and the impact it would have on the environment would affect many people.
P. Gunasekaran, who has nearly six acres of land and does farming at Nelvoi, said, “Gram sabhas are powerful. We are passing resolutions so that people in power both at the State and Centre take cognizance of it. They should know we vehemently oppose this project.”
An official of Kancheepuram Collectorate said they had been trying to negotiate with the residents of the village to agree for the project.
