Protests rage against airport expansion projects

CHENNAI: What do you do when something you struggled to build with blood, sweat and tears is threatened? With the government planning to acquire their lands for the airport expansion project, the 1,000-odd families in Gerugambakkam are facing some of their worst fears.

Most residents of in the area are daily wage earners, who paid for the land in instalments. Unmindful of this, the government and the Airports Authority of India (AAI), have chosen Gerugambakkam for the construction of a parallel runway.

"Many of us have bought the land by saving money earned from years of hard labour. Now, we have no place to go," said Hafeez Hussain, a resident of the area.

Some people have not completed the registration of their plots due to financial constraints. They fear that they may not be eligible for an alternative site due to the lack of registration. Villagers allege that the village administrative officers (VAOs) did not inform residents about the government decisions.

"Earlier, some of the officials told us not to worry as the government had dropped the idea of using our locality. However, after a few months, other officials told us that we would be asked to vacate by January. We have not been able to know what the real picture is," said Jagadambal, a resident.

On approaching the officials of the village administration department, residents were reportedly told that land had been allotted for them in Kovur, though no such assurance was given.

Villagers charge that many parts of Gerugambakkam are approved as purely residential areas. Despite this, the government has given permission for the construction of the runway. Residents also question why the AAI, which had previously dropped the idea of using the land, terming it "unfeasible", chose to use it now.

They add that even if the runway is constructed, it will be prone to floods as the Adyar river, flowing through the area, gets flooded during the rainy season.

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IE920071123000337&Page=E&Headline=Protests+rage+against+airport+expansion+projects&Title=Chennai&Topic=0