Government Explains Why Parandur Is a Better Site for New Airport

Chennai: With the long forgotten protest against the setting up of the Greenfield airport at Parandur in Kanchipuram district suddenly coming into media focus following the brief visit of Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam founder president Vijay, the government clarified that Chief Minister M K Stalin was very particular that development should not be at the cost of human livelihood.
Explaining the advantages of the Parandur site over its alternative at Pannur, the government said, through a press release that Pannur was more developed and would require the payment of more compensation to the land losers, thus taking the cost of the new airport to a new high.
In terms of human displacement, too, Pannur would see 1,547 families losing their homes and shifting elsewhere while in Parandur the number would be lesser by 500 as only 1005 families would be displaced, the statement said, adding that the government would ensure that the welfare and livelihood of people were least affected by the airport project.
Stressing on the need to have a new airport, it said that such development would not only open up new job opportunities for the youth but would also lead to the growth of industries, medical facilities and tourism in the locality.
Besides, it pointed out that among the top cities in the country, Chennai’s present airport was the smallest situated in just 1000 acres of land as against Delhi’s 5,106 acres, Hyderabad’s 5,500, Bengaluru’s 4000 acres and Mumbai’s 1,150 acres, pointing to the need for more space in Chennai as the number of users of the airport that was 2 crore now would 8 crore in 10 years.
On the concerns raised over the destruction of the water bodies in Paranthur airport site, the government said that a high level committee’s recommendation would be adhered to in protecting the water bodies since the construction of the airport was inevitable for the development of the State.
The Paranthur site was recommended for the setting up of the airport after a 10 year study, it said. Apart from the AAI itself conducting a feasibility study, the TIDCO’s detailed investigative research led to the authorities choosing Parandur over the Pannur, it said.
Though the authorities had come out with these facts to justify the selection of Parandur for the second airport for Chennai earlier, too, in various forums, the debate over development verses livelihood and environmental issues started after Vijay met with some of people who are still protesting against the project and assured to return to Parandur again.