Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Drop airport project, say residents

Staff Reporter
KANCHEEPURAM: Residents of Lakshmi Nagar in Gerugambakkam have urged Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi to use good offices to persuade the Union government to save their habitat from getting wiped out of revenue records.

Talking to reporters here on Monday, after registering their objection against acquisition of land for the Chennai airport expansion project, they said the Chief Minister might not have been properly briefed about their pathetic situation.

The Chief Minister had decided to shelve the land acquisition project with respect to Kaul Bazzar, Pozhichallur and other areas, in deference to the wishes of the residents of those areas.

“We believe that he will definitely heed our plea to convince the Union government to drop the Chennai airport expansion project and concentrate on setting up greenfield airport near Sriperumbudur”, they added.

Dhanam and Faridha, residents of the area, said they were haunted by fears about loss of their lands owing to the project.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/30/stories/2008013059620400.htm

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Friday, January 25, 2008

Message in New Indian Express 25_01_2008

Airport in land trouble:

CHENNAI: The Rs 2,700-crore expansion project of Chennai airport, which is struggling to manage increase in air-traffic, seems to have hit a roadblock.

As acquisition of 1,066 acres of land in Gerugambakkam, Manapakkam, Kolapakkam and Tharapakkam has been caught in a wrangle with the residents, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has not been able to start the project on time.

As per the Centre’s plan, works — to build a parallel runway, a taxi way and an integrated terminal— should have started early this month.It was slated for completion in two years, so that the airport would be able to manage the growing traffic till 2016 — when the greenfield airport at Sriperumbudur is completed.

Refusing to comment on the project’s status, AAI chairman K Ramalingam said, “We are holding talks with the stakeholders.”

Meanwhile, residents have met Kancheepuram Collector to urge the government to develop the airport without affecting people.

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IE920080124222145&Page=9&Title=Chennai&Topic=0&

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Thursday, January 24, 2008

New runway not planned: Aviation Ministry

KANCHEEPURAM: The Ministry of Civil Aviation has said that it had only applied for clearance from the Public Investment Board (PIB) for extending the secondary runway at the Chennai airport and not for constructing a new parallel runway.

According to a copy of a reply dated January 7 by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to queries raised by the public under the Right to Information Act, the AAI seem to have never planned for constructing a new parallel runway on the northern side of the Adyar. Claiming that there were no technical and economic feasibility reports available for the construction of a parallel runway, it said no environmental impact assessment report had been prepared either. Distributing copies of the reply to the press on Thursday, Thamizh Selvan, Balesh and Sumathi of Tharapakkam said they were at a loss to comprehend why the State government was keen on acquiring 1,650 acres of land in Tharapakkam, Kolapakkam, Gerugembakkam, Kovur and Manapakkam.

The AAI had no plans of constructing a new runway . It had not yet obtained clearance from the PIB for the extension of the secondary runway.

“Such being the case, what is the need to speed up the process of land acquisition,” they wondered.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/25/stories/2008012553420300.htm

message in DailyThanthi_25-01-2008




Tuesday, January 22, 2008

People up in arms against Chennai airport expansion project

About 500 people, including 300 women, today laid a siege to the district collectorate in protest against the expansion of the Chennai international airport, fearing acquisition of their land. Agitators from Manapakkam, Kolapakkam, Kerugambakkam, Tharapakkam and Kovur, under the banner United People's Right to Life Movement, resorted to the stir, demanding that the authorities concerned reconsider the expansion project.

Headed by the Movement Secretary Brinda, they submitted a memorandum to District Collector Santosh K Mishra, demanding scrapping of the expansion project and go ahead only with the greenfield airport project.

The proposal to expand the airport across river Adyar and on its banks would displace people in Porur, Madhanandapuram, Mugalivakkam, Moulivakkam, Panicherry, Kovur, Kerugambakkam, Tharapakkam, Anagaputhur, Pammal, Polichalur, Kowl Bazaar and Manapakkam villages. The Rs 2,350 crore modernisation and expansion works at the airport, to be carried out by the Airports Authority of India, include creation of a parallel runway, taxiways, aprons and new passenger handling buildings.

The Government had announced provision of suitable compensation to the displaced, besides rehabilitating them in the first phase of the project itself.


Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had announced setting up of a new greenfield airport at Sriperumbudur and Tiruvallur taluks, apart from the expansion of the existing airport at Meenambakkam.


http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/India/20080121/873740.html

Monday, January 21, 2008

Villagers oppose airport expansion, seek effective air traffic control

KANCHEEPURAM: Residents of five villages surrounding Chennai airport have asked the Tamil Nadu Government to consider alternative plans to manage the growing air traffic, instead of expanding the existing airport.This was the consensus at a meeting on Monday, convened by Kancheepuram District Collector Santhosh K Mishra to discuss grievances arising out of the likely takeover of private lands for the expansion of the Chennai airport.

The members representing the Makkal Vazvu Unimai Iyakkam said that several alternatives to manage higher air traffic volumes had been worked out by the experts.The present expansion plan, which envisages acquisition of 1,070 acres, will uproot 2,000 farmers from their agricultural lands, displace 5,000 living in huts and another 1,000 in concrete houses in the villages of Kolapakkam, Gerugambakkam, Manapakkam, Kovur and Tharapakkam.

The government's decision to allocate Rs 1,000 crores for land acquisition and another Rs 1,000 crore for the project is a sheer waste, the aggrieved people said.I

nstead of spending huge sums for rehabilitating the people, the government should consider operating small aircraft on the second runway. They should increase the landing and take-off speeds in such a manner to meet the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's (DGCA) standard of operating 50 flights an hour and implement satellite air traffic control rather than the radar system based on radio frequency.

Alternatively, the government can invest in green field airports in new areas rather than going ahead with the proposed expansion, without addressing the concerns of affected people, the residents said.

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IET20080121214021&Page=T&Title=Southern+News+-+Tamil+Nadu&Topic=0

Thursday, January 17, 2008

CNN News- Citizen Journalist

http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/56565/homes-first-airport-later-chennai-motto.html

AAI will focus on development of infrastructure

CHENNAI: The Airports Authority of India will focus on improving infrastructure in airports across the country in the coming year to keep pace with the rapid growth in air traffic, K. Ramalingam, Chairman, Airports Authority of India, said on Wednesday.
The AAI has outlined a budget of Rs. 3,400 crore for projects in the coming year, a 78 per cent increase over last year.

The aviation industry grew by a record 33 per cent in 2007, and Dr. Ramalingam said there was an urgent need to prevent a mismatch between infrastructure on the ground and growth in the skies. “We should understand that infrastructure for today should have to be built yesterday,” he said. “We need to build infrastructure to meet the expansion of traffic, and we have to make sure there is no mismatch between technology on the ground and in the airspace.”
The AAI would particularly invest in developing Tier-II airports and execute around 35 non-metro projects. A number of projects were slated for southern airports. New terminals would come up in Madurai, Tiruchi and Coimbatore, and their runways would also be expanded—Madurai’s and Tiruchi’s to 7,500 feet and Coimbatore to 9,000 feet. Airports at Tuticorin, Salem, Puducherry and Rajahmundry would also be developed to allow operations of bigger aircraft.

While several of these projects would be handled on a “turnkey basis,” Dr. Ramalingam said, the AAI would seek to “compete” with the private sector to improve standards.
Chennai’s airport was set to undergo a rapid expansion in the coming months.

Some developments were under way—a second cross-runway was made operational last month, and Dr. Ramalingam said it would go a long way in
preventing traffic congestion.

Link:http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/17/stories/2008011752990500.htm

Residents stage hunger strike against airport expansion

Residents stage hunger strike against airport expansion


TAMBARAM: Members of the United People’s Forum For Survival (UPFFS), an association of people living at Manapakkam, Kolapakkam, Gerugambakkam, Thaarapakkam and Kovur villages, staged a day-long hunger strike near the Tambaram Taluk office on Sunday, to protest against the proposal to acquire land for the Chennai airport expansion project.

The protestors said it was planned to acquire vast areas of developed land and also re-route a portion of the Adyar river, for the airport expansion project, the most important component of which was laying a new runway.

They said re-routing the river and building an elevated runway across it would cause severe hardships to residents of these villages and several others.

If the government went ahead with these works, an estimated five lakh people would be affected by flooding.

Land acquisition would affect not less than 5,000 people, Forum members told reporters. A permanent solution to the problem was developing a greenfield airport well outside city limits.

Link:http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/15/stories/2008011554220600.htm

Thursday, January 3, 2008