DMK to face fire over airport extension plan

DMK to face fire over airport extension plan :


CHENNAI: The new settlers in Manapakkam, Kolapakkam, Geragambakkam and Tarapakkam in Sriperumbudur constituency are set to vote against the DMK. All are victims of the airport extension plan and they say their vote will go to the person who gives them a written assurance about denotification of their lands which were notified to be acquired for the parallel runway to be added to the existing primary runway. Under section 3(2) of the Tamil Nadu Land Acquisition for Industrial Purpose Act, 1997, the people were served notices that their land would be acquired. Under this expansion plan, 1069.99 acres of land were to be acquired for the parallel runway expansion. Because of this expansion, 947 dwelling houses, 20 small industries and one school will be levelled down.


“This is a draconian law. Under this act, the government does not need to give a specific time period, but can serve a notice and acquire the land when they choose to do it. But we, the people, are living in eternal anxiety of not knowing when our homes will be taken away from us,” said Brindha, a resident of this area and the leader of the resident’s movement to protect their lands under the banner ‘United People Forum for Survival’.


After the government started issuing notices from December 2007, the banks had stopped funding for the people who had taken home loans in this area and the houses remain incomplete. One such case is Macro Marvel, a new colony that came up behind the airport, and is full of retired people.


“We have invested all our life savings in this house. If the government demolishes our homes we do not know where to go. After the government served the notices, we have completely lost our peace. Many of us had developed sugar, BP. We are living in an eternal state of anxiety,” said Prema, wife of a retired army colonel.


In EVP Town, a new township, the construction was stopped after the government issued notification. Hundreds of people who had invested lakhs of rupees are at their wits end with the project coming to a standstill. So far 2500 people were served notices in this expansion plan.

“No feasibility report and no environmental clearances were taken. This parallel runway will come in between Poorur Lake and Adyar River and 2500 acres around this region are flood plains during the rainy season. This 15 km wall, to be constructed across the parallel runway, will cause havoc during the rainy season, causing floods in this region. Even in 2008 during the November-December rains, major flooding happened in this region,” said Brindha.

Kovur farmers object to relocation plan

The villagers of Kovur, a Mudaliyar dominated agricultural village, are set to vote against the DMK government, which plans to plunder their rightful agricultural lands.
Kovur, a quaint village in Sriperembudur that had for long run itself as an agricultural economy, is now getting a new identity as a dump yard for people displaced by the airport extension programme. This rehabilitation comes at a cost. To resettle the displaced, the government is acquiring 56 acres of agricultural lands under cultivation. There are 2000 people who are dependent on these lands for their livelihood.

Chidambaram, an agriculturist who owns 4 acres of land, which has been notified by the government to be acquired, said, “After the government notified the lands the banks have stopped giving agricultural loans. Sixty percent of the people have stopped cultivating the lands. We are buying rice from the shops. What kind of government is this, which takes away what rightfully belongs to the people? We are not going to give up this fight. These are the lands of our ancestors and nobody is going to take it away from us.”

These villagers were served notice in December 2007 and many had stopped cultivating because of a lack of funds from the banks. The lands are lying fallow in spite of there being plenty of water for irrigation. Ganasekaran another villager said, “ the government is creating an artificial famine in our place by creating a situation where we are forced not to cultivate.”

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