200 days and counting: No let up in protests by residents at Parandur

CHENNAI: The ongoing protest against the Greenfield airport might intensify in the coming days as the residents say they are not ready to back out until the government change the location.

Meanwhile, On the 200-th day of protest on Saturday, huge number of villagers gathered in Eganapuram amid high police deployment and raised slogans against the state government and demanded to change the airport location.

The villagers, mostly farmers, worry that relocation may affect their livelihood. Most of them say that they don’t know any other work. Since the announcement, the villagers are holding silent protest every night. They say they have also sent request letters during the four Gram Sabha meetings. The residents said they will intensify the protest if the government begin the airport construction.

“This is our land and our home. We cannot leave this and go somewhere else.” Parandur resident Elangovan said. “There are many better places for the government for the construction of the airport but it is not the same for us,” he said.

Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Vijay Kumar Singh had recently said Parandur was chosen as the airport location by the state. The Minister further said the decision to change the location should be taken by the state government as Union government couldn’t interfere in it.

Residents said the statement from the Union Minister was shocking as officials had earlier informed them that it was a central government decision.

Addressing locals, Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi (TVK) MLA T Velmurugan said he will take the issue to the Chief Minister.

The Central government announced Parandur as the location of the second airport in Chennai in August, last year. According to the plan, the airport will be constructed in about 4,700 acres by acquiring lands from 13 villages in Parandur and surrounding areas.