CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU, 07/08/2022: Agricultural workers planting paddy in the farmland. The new greenfield airport is proposed in Parandur village in Kanchipuram district near Chennai. on Sunday.Photo: Velankanni Raj B/ The Hindu | Photo Credit: VELANKANNI RAJ
Parandur in Kancheepuram district in Tamil Nadu is known for being rich in water, and farming is the main occupation here.
Parandur has been chosen as the site for Chennai’s second airport, more than two decades after the plan was mooted. The site is located 59km southwest of the existing Chennai airport in Meenambakkam.
But for the people of the area, and its neighbouring villages, their future looks uncertain. Farmers fear that the construction of a new airport in Parandur may rob them of their livelihood.
The Airports Authority of India had conducted a pre-feasibility study of the area and they identified 4,791 acres of land for the airport. But, 2,605 acres of those are wetlands
Why are people angry?
For people living here for generations, their only source of income is agriculture. If their lands are taken away for airport, they do not know how they will make a living. The villages have passed resolutions protesting against the upcoming airport. At one such public meeting at the Kancheepuram collectorate, angry villagers staged a walkout.
People are clueless about which property will be acquired for the airport as there has been no official word. There are many waterbodies in Parandur. Therefore, an airport here can have a devastating impact on the people and the environment.
Environmentalists too say that Parandur is a hydrologically significant area and that the airport coming up there is not ecologically and environmentally good for the city. Some farmers say they will move to another location only if they are allotted a parcel of land similar to the one they own now so that they can continue farming.
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