TN Congress backs Parandur airport cancellation, demands compensation clarity
The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) has welcomed the state government's decision to cancel the Parandur airport project, citing the government's own records and years of community opposition. In a statement on Monday, TNCC president B. Manickam Tagore said the party's support was based on evidence, not political convenience.
Tagore pointed to the Airports Authority of India's feasibility report from March 2022, which noted that Parandur was surrounded by water bodies, with over a quarter of the site covered by irrigation tanks. A man-made lake of 201 hectares was located just 1.4 km from the boundary. The reasons now cited for cancellation—low-lying and waterlogged land—were already documented three years ago, he said.
The Congress leader also compared Parandur with the alternative site at Pannur. According to him, Parandur was nearly two-and-a-half times farther from Chennai (62 km versus 27.6 km), would displace roughly four times as many families (approximately 1,005 versus 250), and required twice the earthwork for filling and grading.
Tagore noted that the project faced seven years of protest from residents, with the people of Ekanapuram sustaining an agitation for more than 1,000 days. "This was not resistance to development. It was a community defending its land, water and livelihoods," he said.
The Congress's position, Tagore said, reflects its consistent stand for genuine consent and independent Social Impact Assessment before land acquisition for major infrastructure projects. He described the legal process behind the land acquisition as "deeply flawed."
Tagore made three specific demands: clarity on the future of the acquired land within three months, immediate release of the approximately 30% compensation still outstanding, and restoration of basic civic infrastructure. He also called for a genuine and transparent consultation with affected communities before any new site is chosen for Chennai's second airport.
"Chennai does need greater aviation capacity. But no city's growth should come at the cost of a community's land, water, livelihoods and dignity without their genuine consent," he said.
The cancellation of the Parandur project comes after years of protests and environmental concerns. The state government has not yet announced an alternative location for the proposed second airport.
