Parandur airport: New officer appointed to begin land acquisition

State government appoints special officer to acquire land for Chennai's second airport project at Parandur.

To begin one of the most important processes to build the second airport for Chennai city at Parandur — land acquisition — the State government has appointed a special district revenue officer.

Sources in the government said, this officer will be in charge for completing the land acquisition process at the earliest. He will be present throughout the entire term of the project and the land acquisition is likely to go on for at least a year, sources said.

“The officer will have the powers to give notification, carry out negotiation, call for price fixation, send proposals to the government regarding this issue and publish them as well. He will also hold public hearing, hear grievances and address issues of residents whose lands will be acquired. The land acquisition may start in a couple of months,” a source said.

Though the land acquisition process has been scheduled to go on for about a year, in this case, it may take much longer, considering the fact that residents and farmers in the area have been strongly protesting against this project since it will affect their livelihood, he added.

The much-awaited Parandur airport project is coming up at an estimated cost of ₹20,000 crore in an area situated in Kancheepuram district, nearly 60 km southwest of the present Chennai International Airport in Meenambakkam. Ever since the State government selected Parandur as the site for the second airport in 2022, things have been moving rather quickly so far. The Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) sent the application for the site clearance to the Ministry of Civil Aviation last year and in a couple of months, Louis Berger who was appointed to draw up the detailed techno economic report started the work as well. In the month of October, the Ministry of Defence gave its nod for site clearance and the State government too gave the administrative sanction.

This project needs a total of 5,746.18 acres of land, of which 1,917.17 acres are with the government and rest of the 3,774 acres will have to be acquired.