CPM changes line on Chennai airport upgrade
D K Singh / New Delhi September 30, 2006


The party will take up the cause of people likely to be displaced.

With the DMK government in Tamil Nadu opting to side with the UPA government and take privatisation route to modernise the Chennai airport, the CPI(M) has changed its strategy. Instead of taking the government head-on, the party will take up the cause of people likely to be displaced by the proposed expansion of the airport.

CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said the Left would raise all issues relating to privatisation of airports, including the 35 non-metro airports, at the UPA-Left coordination committee meeting on October 4. The civil aviation ministry is planning to invite expressions of interest for modernisation of these metro airports by the end of October.

A group of ministers had earlier decided that the Centre would go by the state governments views on modernisation of the Kolkata and Chennai airports. While the West Bengal government opposed involvement of private players, the Tamil Nadu government is open to the privatisation route, although it is yet to state its stance to the Centre.

Anticipating the DMK government's move, the CPI(M) has changed tactics. Yechury said to many regularised colonies would have too be destroyed expand the Chennai airport.

It will lead to a lot of complication. Our party is of the view that the government should not go for expansion of the Chennai airport. You build your greenfield airport and get the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to modernise the existing airport, he said.

The CPI(M) has also opposed the move for privatisation of the non-metro airports. The government had made a commitment that these airports would be modernised by the AAI, Yechury said.

Yechury said he would put across his party's views to Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel ahead of the coordination committee meeting in which the issue would figure prominently.



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Residents to contest civic polls
Tuesday September 26 2006 09:35 IST

CHENNAI: Protests against the proposed expansion of the Chennai airport for which the government intends to acquire land in Pozichalur, Anakaputhur, Cowl Bazaar and the surrounding suburbs are likely to echo in the October local body polls.

Residents of these colonies, who have raised a war cry against plans to acquire their homes and land, are contemplating fielding their representatives in the elections to take on the nominees of political parties.

In fact, a few residents have already filed their nominations as Independent candidates and others are preparing to seek the support of influential persons in the neighbourhood.

There is a seething anger among them against the alleged apathy of the representatives of the local panchayats in taking up their cause.

According to residents, the panchayat members and the president had failed to alert them on the government plan to acquire land. Besides, they did not play any key role in the agitations organised to oppose the airport expansion move.

Therefore, a cross-section of residents wants to uproot these elected representatives.

"The main plank for local body elections in our area will centre around the airport expansion project. By contesting the elections, we hope to send out a strong statement to politicians," a Pozichalur resident said.

Also in the race will be candidates firmly backed by the Federation of Pozhichalur Citizens' Welfare Association, which has been actively organising public protests and meetings ever since the issue came to light.

Selvaraj, the president of the federation, argued that if the panchayat council was dominated by independent councillors who are opposed to the airport expansion project, it will be easy to gather more support from residents for the protests in the coming months.

At the moment, "there are chinks in the armour. But post-elections, we hope to strengthen our unity," he said.

With the polls around the corner, the mood in Pozhichalur is upbeat.

All that the candidates and other residents believe is that they cannot only intensify their anti- expansion protests, but also do it with more authority should they get elected.

And the aspiring members are not full-time politicians but just office-goers and pensioners.

SOURCE :New Indian Express

Chennai and Kolkata airport modernisation decision in a month: Patel

Kolkata, Sept 12. (UNI): The Government will take a final decision on the modernisation of Chennai and Kolkata airports within a month, while the merger of the state-owned Indian Airlines and Air India will be completed by March next, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel on Monday said.

"We will take a final decision on the modernisation of Chennai and Kolkata within a month," Mr Patel told a press conference after the Consultative Committee meeting here.

His comments came as the process for modernising both the airports had been put on the fast track with the Centre planning to complete consultations with Tamil Nadu and West Bengal Governments paving the way for drawing a roadmap.

While Tamil Nadu favours private participation on the line of Delhi and Mumbai and the West Bengal Government wants the work to be done by the AAI.

Mr Patel said Kolkata alone would be needing Rs 2,000 crore for modernisation of its airport.

In August last year, the Prime Minister's Infrastructure Committee had given green signal to the proposed modernisation of Chennai and Kolkata airports. Finance Minister P Chidambaram also said, while presenting the Economic Survey in February this year that an "in-principle" decision had been taken to modernise the Chennai airport through the Joint Venture route.

Mr Patel, however, said his Ministry was yet to take a final stand on whether the Airport Authority of India (AAI) or private parties would fund the proposed modernisation of these two airports.

To a question, Mr Patel said the Center was awaiting the report from the Consultative Committee for the proposed merger of Air India and Indian Airlines. "However, it will be complete by 2006-07 with March being the cut-off month. Once the work is done, the new entity will turn out to be a profitable organisation," he said.

The merger would be followed by an IPO of the new organisation, Mr Patel said.

Dwelling on the Government's plans, the Minister said the AAI was likely to float bonds to raise funds for the proposed development of airports in 35 non-metro towns, including Bhubaneswar, Patna, Ranchi and Guwahati. The airports would be built in the Joint Venture.

The Civil Aviation Ministry was also working on the proposal for constructing airports at Kannaur, Goa, Pune and Navi Mumbai, he said.

Asserting that there was no immediate need for a second airport near Kolkata, Mr Patel said if the existing facility was upgraded it would be able to handle the increased traffic.

"The West Bengal Government wants a greenfield airport in the State and we do not have any problem as such. But one has to assess the viability of the project, which I think is not very bright at this moment," he said.

Mr Patel said the Consultative Committee, at its meeting put thrust on increasing regional air connectivity, including that in the North-East. "The Government is also on way to constructing an airport near Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh," he said.

With a number of private airlines operating in the North-East, the Civil Aviation Ministry was also trying to increase the number of seats for the region, he said.

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Pozhichalur residents seek a level-playing field
Tuesday September 5 2006 11:16 IST

CHENNAI: A day after the DMK Government dropped the satellite city proposal to save livelihoods of thousands of villagers, residents of Pozhichalur want the same yardstick to be applied to save their homes from being razed for the proposed airport expansion project.

Despite protests of various forms from the residents here against the airport expansion project, the Chief Minister's assurance in the Assembly recently that the residents would not be affected during the implementation gave a clear indication that the state has no other way but to go ahead with the expansion plan.

Though the agitating residents are firm on continuing with their struggle against the proposal, they, however, see a ray of hope with the government's reversal on satellite city.

''When the government wants to protect the lives of 13,000 villagers residing between Vandalur and Kelambakkam, why can't the same rule be applied to 50,000 people in the verge of being displaced from Pozhichalur, Cowl Bazaar and Anakaputhur,'' asks K Rajagopal, secretary, Endangered Citizens' Forum. He also wondered how could a massive project such as airport expansion be implemented without affecting residents as promised by the Chief Minister.

Pozhichalur residents feel that the PMK, stubborn in its stand to reconsider the satellite city proposal, was instrumental in the state going back on the proposal. They also have met PMK founder Ramadoss and briefed him on the issue days ago and he had promised to take up the issue with the Chief Minister. Residents expect him to take up their cause also.

The residents firmly believe that the Left parties, constituent of the DPA and extending outside support to the DMK Government, would definitely come to their rescue along with PMK.

Already CPI state secretary Tha Pandian has addressed meetings assuring to fight for their cause. ''People come first. Alliances come next,'' he had reiterated.

Greenfield concept, favoured by alliance partners like Communists, is now gaining momentum among residents here, waiting it to be accepted by the state to save their livelihood.

SOURCE : NEW INDIAN EXPRESS,SEP 5,2006