Parandur villagers protest by not sending wards to school

CHENNAI: The villagers of Parandur, Ekanapuram and surrounding villages protested against the Greenfield airport by not sending their children to school on Friday.

The Central government announced Parandur as the location of the second airport in Chennai. The project will be constructed at an expanse of about 4,700 acres by acquiring 12 villagers in Parandur and its surrounding areas.

Right after the announcement, the villagers started their protest against the government demanding to change the location of the airport. The villagers are protesting till midnight every day. They even hoisted black flags in houses and also sent a letter to the Collector during Gram Sabha to change the location.

Now, the villagers have taken their protest to the next level and to grab the attention of the government and decided to protest against the Greenfield airport by not sending their children to the schools.

Residents said there are few government primary, and middle schools in Nelvoy, Meleri, Nagapattu and Ekanapuram and nearly 200 students are in the schools. The villagers Friday protested by not sending their children to the schools and all the classrooms were found empty. The students also joined the protest in Ekanapuram and raised slogans against the government and requested to change the location of the airport. Mani, a resident of the village, said: "We will keep on protesting in different ways till the government decides to change the location of the airport and will not allow the airport in our village at any cost.”