Vijay govt shortlists 2 sites for new airport after Parandur plan scrapped
The state government has identified Manellore and Cheyyur as the potential choices to host the new airport, the sources said. The two locations were identified within a week, they added.
The TVK-led government of Tamil Nadu has shortlisted two sites for a new airport in the state, sources told India Today on Sunday. The development surfaces days after the Parandur airport project was officially scrapped by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay.
The state government has identified Manellore and Cheyyur as the potential choices to host the new airport, the sources said. The two locations were identified within a week, they added.
Both the locations have been recommended to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for feasibility study, the sources said. The proposed airport is intended to serve the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA).
While Manellore is approximately 60 kilometres from Chennai, Cheyyur is roughly 100 kilometres from the city.
ROW OVER PARANDUR DECISION
The Vijay government has come under sharp criticism from the Opposition ever since the decision to abandon the greenfield airport project near Chennai was announced.
Speaking in the state Assembly, the CM had cited farmers' interests as the reason behind the decision.
He had admitted that while a second airport was indeed necessary to meet the growing requirements of Greater Chennai, and to support industrial development and expansion of cargo transportation, the location of the proposed airport should be selected in a manner that causes minimal disruption to agricultural land and residential settlements.
Vijay had said that the previous government pursued the Parandur project despite its potential impact on farmers and several residential settlements.
Parandur is located near the Chennai-Bengaluru highway, roughly 28 km from Sriperumbudur.
VIJAY GOVT'S DEFENCE OF PARANDUR MOVE
The Vijay government has defended its decision to scrap the Parandur greenfield airport project, accusing the previous DMK regime of acquiring land without an environmental impact assessment or requisite approvals.
Amid heated exchanges in the Assembly last month, Energy Resources and Law Minister R Nirmal Kumar had said the DMK's claim that 90 per cent of the work had been completed was untrue, noting that the proposed site contained several water bodies and that neither an environmental impact assessment had been conducted nor environmental clearance obtained.
"The total land requirement for the project is 5,846 acres, including 3,774 acres of private patta land, of which 2,681 acres are fertile agricultural land. Of the 1,972 acres of government land, 1,558 acres consist of water bodies and canals. Only about 1,802 acres, or 48 per cent, have been acquired so far," the minister had claimed.
Land acquisition had not commenced in several villages, including Ekanapuram, Karai, Thandalam and Siruvalur, Kumar had said, responding to DMK MLA S Austin's criticism that abandoning the project after 90 per cent of the work had been completed would cause an economic setback to the state.