Chennai locals rue airport modernisation
Monday, March 20, 2006 (Chennai):
The Chennai airport modernisation plan has run into rough weather. Thousands of people living in adjoining areas of the airport are up in arms against the project.There is a fear that over 4,000 houses will be demolished rendering over 15,000 people homeless."In all big cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, the airports are away from the city. Why can't they have the international airport in this city at another place?" said a local.

Protecting the affluent:

The residents are an angry lot.They say that they are being unfairly targeted to protect the hundreds of acres of adjoining areas in the northern side owned by politicians and real estate tycoons.They further allege that these areas were originally to be handed over to the airport."In order to save the politically influential people and their relatives' land we have been ransacked," said a resident. The state government's long silence on the issue has intensified the panic among the people that the airport modernisation may uproot their lives.The issue may have its repercussions on the forthcoming assembly polls with people contemplating a boycott of polls.

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Chennai: Remorseful Airport Modernization
Monday Mar 20 2006, 1:12am PDT - Puja

In past few decades Chennai locals have been robbed of several acres of their fertile land by

their very own government. Many of them were yet to receive compensation for land taken over in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Once again this time history is ready to repeat itself; this time government is all set to acquire land of innocent locals for airport modernization and handed over to the Airports Authority of India for restructuring and modernization of the Chennai Airport.
According to the proposal, 3,210 buildings — including 1,899 pucca houses, 641 tiled houses, 670 huts, 11 temples, two churches, overhead water tanks, nearly a dozen government and school buildings — come under the acquisition area in Pozhichalur panchayat. The number is 853 in Anakaputhur, 190 in Gowl Bazaar and 46 in Pammal. This time residents have raised their arms for saving their land.
This proposed acquisition is going to displace around 15,000 people. Residents are of the view that they are not being treated fairly as their lands and houses are being demolished not for the modernization but in order to protect the hundreds of acres of adjoining areas in the northern side owned by politicians and real estate tycoons.I think residents are fair on their part to criticize the proposal of government to clear residential and commercial areas as when there is ample land available in north where there is no construction and people at all. The State and Centre should come spotless with a clear approach on what precisely they intend to do.

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Land need for airport expansion

Staff Reporter



Staff Reporter

TAMBARAM : Residents fear that going by the statement showing the total area of land proposed for the airport expansion prepared by the Airports Authority of India in November 2005, almost the whole of Gowl Bazaar and half of Pozhichalur would be taken up.

According to the statement, about 107 hectares (ha) of Gowl Bazaar (total area 122 ha) and 111 ha of Pozhichalur (total area 249 ha) were needed for the project. Further, the requirement was 14 ha in Anakaputhur (298 ha), 8 hectares in Cantonment Pallavaram (385 ha) and 2 hectares in Pammal (520 ha). Of the total requirement of 244 ha in Tambaram Taluk (above mentioned places), 189 ha was patta land, while 50 ha was classified as poromboke and about 5 ha belonged to the Central Government. In Sriperumbudur Taluk, the land needed for acquisition in the proposed scheme was 129 ha. Eleven hectares were needed in Tarapakkam (total area 125 ha); 21 in Manapakkam (410 ha); 52 in Kolapakkam (316 ha) and 43 in Gerugambakkam (393 ha).

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Residents protest against airport expansion plan

Staff Reporter

Almost half of Pozhichalur panchayat's developed area is to be acquired

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Residents say they were not informed of the Government's plans Say development policies are "unilateral" and "anti-people" Kancheepuram Collector assured them last year that they would not be affected SHOWING ANGER: Residents of Pozhichalur staging a demonstration on Thursday against the State Government's proposal to acquire land for modernisation of the Chennai airport. — Photo: A. Muralitharan TAMBARAM: Residents of Pozhichalur staged a protest on Thursday expressing their anger against the State and Central Governments over the manner in which the decision was taken to identify 583 hectares of land for restructuring and modernisation of the Chennai airport. They said the gathering was only the start of a series of protests they had planned against what they termed the "unilateral" and "anti-people" policies adopted by the Government in the name of development. The Land Plan Schedule showing the details of the villages covered under the proposed airport modernisation scheme revealed that almost half of Pozhichalur panchayat's developed area was to be acquired. The residents wanted to know: `how come Pozhichalur, Anakaputhur and Pammal, all situated to the west of the airport, were included suddenly, when they were not part of the original proposal drawn up in 2000.' They said a letter from the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Limited to the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority in May 2005 had recalled the State Government's proposal to the Ministry of Civil Aviation in July 2000 about the International Airport Project and that the land requirement was about 2,000 acres in Manapakkam, Kolapakkam, Gerugambakkam, Tharapakkam, Tandalam, Kovur, Peripanacheri and Gowl Bazaar areas. The same list was maintained until a few months ago, and in order to clear the confusion, the residents had approached the Kancheepuram Collector, who told them in August 2005 that there was no announcement from the State Government on acquiring land in Pozhichalur. "If this was the case till six months ago, how could new places — Cantonment Pallavaram, Anakaputhur and Pammal apart from Pozhichalur — figure in the plan," asked members of the Federation of Pozhichalur Residents Welfare Associations. They said the State Government's announcement of handing over vast areas of land free of cost to the Centre was made without taking into confidence those who would be affected. Such unilateral decisions went against all norms of democracy, the residents said. They allege that the sudden inclusion of new places in the plan was part of a larger conspiracy to protect a small section of people with vested interests, mostly real estate dealers. The residents said they planned to start a society of all those in other villages who would be affected by the proposed land acquisition and vowed to "fight till the end."

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Residents concerned over land acquisition for airport expansion

K. Manikandan

They say project will displace over 25,000 people

Tambaram : A section of residents of Anakaputhur, Pozhichalur and Pammal, who met on Wednesday evening, expressed concern over a Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority note for the acquisition of 583 hectares in their locality and Gowl Bazaar.

This land will be handed over to the Airports Authority of India for restructuring and modernisation of the Chennai Airport.

The note (U.O. Note No. R1/1363/2006), issued on February 23, has brought to a halt all development activities in these areas.

A copy of the Land Plan Schedule furnished details of the villages covered under the proposed airport modernisation, shows a long stretch of the Adyar river for acquisition.

A Government Order (December 14 2005, G.O. Ms. No. 91) which stated that the Government, after careful consideration of the AAI proposal , had decided to accept the request and acquire 583 hectares on the northern side of the airport as per the plan received from the AAI.

It may be recalled that the State Government accepted the Civil Aviation Ministry's proposal and announced that the land would be made available free of cost.

The Department had also, in a separate letter, directed among others, the Kancheepuram Collector and the CMDA to take "necessary immediate action to freeze all building activities in the approach area and issue suitable notification in this regard." The plan schedule identifies a vast areain Kunrathur for rehabilitating those likely to be displaced by the acquisition.

According to the proposal, 3,210 buildings — including 1,899 pucca houses, 641 tiled houses, 670 huts, 11 temples, two churches, overhead water tanks, nearly a dozen government and school buildings — come under the acquisition area in Pozhichalur panchayat. The number is 853 in Anakaputhur, 190 in Gowl Bazaar and 46 in Pammal.

Residents said as the proposed acquisition would displace no less than 25,000 people by modest estimates, the State and Centre should come clean with a transparent approach on what exactly they planned to do.

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