Villagers express grave concern over Parandur airport project in the light of cyclone Fengal

Villagers oppose airport construction in Parandur due to environmental concerns and potential impact on water bodies and agriculture.

Cyclone Fengal was yet another opportunity to examine the viability of establishing an airport at Parandur in the light of the opposition from the villagers and from environmental groups. During the recent cyclone, many areas were inundated in Parandur.

The project has been gradually picking up pace and while the authorities have been carrying out studies for receiving environmental clearance on one side, farmers and villagers continue to fiercely oppose it on the other. The villagers’ protest began as soon as the second airport project for Chennai city was announced and it has been going on for more than 800 days now.

After the cyclone left many parts of Chennai inundated, villagers of Ekanapuram have yet again reiterated why it could be disastrous to build an airport over a site which comprises 26.54% of waterbodies. 

Subramaniyam, a farmer and a resident of Ekanapuram said, so far this monsoon, the villages in and around Parandur have not witnessed a great quantum of rainfall. “Despite this, the fields bore some brunt and some of our crops were destroyed. This is the impact in spite of the area having so many water bodies. One can imagine the plight of the neighbouring villages and Chennai city in future when all of these are taken over by concrete structures for the second airport,” he added. 

It is to be noted that three lakes— Vayaleri, Kalieri and Kadapperi had not even reached half their capacity, N. Narayanan another farmer in Ekanarapuram said. “A stream in our village passes via Parandur and goes all the way to Kosasthalaiyar. And the plan is to build runways in such an area replete with waterbodies. As such, we hear that there are recent studies indicating that some parts of Chennai may submerge under water in future. These kind of projects by the government certainly don’t help in anyway,” he added. 

G. Janardhanan, another farmer and resident of the village said, in Kancheepuram district, the villages identified for the second airport bear a large chunk of agricultural fields. “For developmental activities, any government which is in place, takes over agricultural land. We wonder if the government even thinks of food shortage that could come up in future. Is this where they really want to build an airport?” he asked.