TEHELKA UNCOVERS THE DEVIOUS PLANS ON CHENNAI AIRPORT EXPANSION PROJECT.
GROUND TURBULENCE IN TN
AIRPORT EXPANSION THREATENS TO WIPE OUT CHENNAI SUBURB
Pozhichalur residents say land acquisition was changed to suit land sharks, politicians and hoteliers
PC Vinoj Kumar
Chennai
The proposal to demolish hundreds of houses in a middle-class colony for the expansion of the Chennai airport has drawn out even housewives and children to protest on the streets. Tension prevails in Pozhichalur, Anagaputhur, Cowl Bazar and Pammal areas adjoining the airport, where the government has proposed to acquire about 1,457 acres for extending the airport. The chosen suburb is very much part of the city today. An estimated 30,000 people are likely to be displaced if the project is implemented in its present form. About 4,629 houses, 14 schools, eight government buildings, 23 temples, two churches and a ration shop would have to be razed under the plan.
Most homes have been built on government-approved layouts. Families have constructed houses on bank loans and retirement benefits. The government did not prohibit development in the area and consequently new houses were mushrooming at a frenzied pace till recently. The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CDMA) continued to grant permission for the buildings. So, the government order earmarking the area for the airport project early this year came as a rude shock to residents. In March, an order was passed freezing building activities in the area.
“We built the house about a year ago, spending our life savings on it. We are not going to surrender our homes to the government. The airport will be built only over our dead bodies. The government is creating terrorists by its senseless acts. If I didn’t have a son, I would have become one,” says Jamuna, a resident of Pozhichalur. There are others in the colony who share her view. Families are threatening to commit mass suicides, if the government decides to go ahead with the project. “The bulldozer has to mow down the house along with my family. We would rather die in the house than be homeless,” says Parameshwari, who has two daughters of marriageable age. Their only asset is their house.
OVERVIEW
Almost 30,000 people are likely to be displaced if the project is implemented in Pozhichalur and its neighbourhood
Families have built houses through bank loans and by investing their retirement benefits
In March, the state government passed an order freezing building activities in the area
Plan for greenfield airport in the outskirts of the city have no takers
The question that everyone’s asking is, why didn’t the government warn the people of the project when they registered land or at least when they sought building permission. The government’s action in announcing the project without even consulting the people is seen as a move that is “anti-people” and “undemocratic”.
Residents have staged several agitations demanding that the project be scrapped. Medha Patkar of the Narmada Bachao Andolan participated in a recent agitation and stated that the State had to consult the people at the grassroots, whether it be a dam or an airport. “Projects should be approved only after people were convinced about the cost, minimal impact on environment and factors relating to vested interests,” she said at a public meeting.
Thousands turn up at the protest meetings which are organised frequently. Emotions usually run high at the meetings. “If you destroy our homes for thesake of the airport, the airport itself will be destroyed,” a lawyer said at a meeting.
Many feel that the project itself is short-sighted and lacks vision. One of the residents, JP Mohandas, a post-graduate from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, has even prepared a set of alternative plans for the government after consulting experts. “While depriving the legitimate holdings of a sizable number of people, it should be seen whether the expansion would meet the requirements of the airport for another 50 years or so. The present airport cannot cater to the projected air traffic in Chennai even after a few years, in spite of the proposed parallel runway and expansion.” He points out that “the argument that land has to be acquired in public interest will not be tenable if alternate solutions are available”.
Nobody is disputing that passenger traffic at the Chennai airport has grown exponentially. The Anna International Terminal handled 2.6 million passengers in 2005-06, compared to 2.4 million passengers the previous year. The growth was more significant at the Kamaraj Domestic Terminal, thanks to the introduction of several low-cost carriers. From 3.2 million passengers in 2004-05, it handled 4.2 million passengers in 2005-06, an increase of 29.1 percent.
Though everyone speaks of the need to do something to handle the growing air traffic, very few experts think expanding the existing airport would solve the problem. On the other hand, there is overwhelming support for establishing a greenfield airport on the outskirts of Chennai, similar to ones being set up in Bangalore and Hyderabad. Mohandas has also suggested four locations near Chennai where a greenfield airport could be established.
Mohandas’ report points out the “operational handicaps in the proposed plan”. The Chennai airport operation is restricted to a “congested traffic environment” because of activities in Tambaram Air Force base, Arakkonam Naval Base, and the new Sriperumbudur Commercial training facility, says the report. It states: “The design (of the expansion plan) is technically poor and does not propose rapid exits or parallel taxiways and is certainly not in line with modern airport design thought.”
Apart from the alleged flaws in the plan, residents also suspect foul play in selecting land for the project. Authorities planned to acquire land on another side of the airport initially, according to D. Selva Rajan, president of the Federation of Pozhichalur Residents’ Welfare Associations. He says that in a letter dated May 25, 2005, to C. Santhanam, Member Secretary, CDMA, Rameshram Mishra, Chairman and Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) had stated that land for the project was falling in “Manapakkam, Kolapakkam, Gerugambakkam, Tharapakkam, Tandalam, Kovur, and Perpanicheri and Cowl Bazar villages.” There was no mention of Pozhichalur.
But by December new areas had been incorporated, the plan had changed. “We suspect that few bigwigs owning land in some of those villages must have bribed officials to change the plan,” says Selva Rajan. Residents also suspect that a strong ‘hotel lobby’ has met important leaders to push for the project. “The five-star hotels near the airport fear their business would be hit if a greenfield airport is built outside the city,” says K. Jayakumar, secretary of the residents’ association.
The residents have approached all major parties. But nobody has taken up their cause barring the cpm, which is opposed to the project. They had represented the matter to Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, who remains non-committal. Opinion is said to be divided within the ruling party on the project. While Karunanidhi and senior leader MK Stalin are supposedly in a dilemma, Union minister Dayanidhi Maran is said to be determined to implement the project.
Maran, residents say, was in favour of the project when they called on him recently. “He was against the greenfield airport concept. He assured we would be given ‘heavy’ compensation, and said we would be relocated with all amenities, but we refused to accept his views,” says L. Sivarajan, who led the delegation. Both the area MP and MLA are from the ruling DMK. TR Baalu, area mp and Union Minister of Shipping, was not available for comment, when Tehelka tried contacting him for his views.
Writer’s e-mail: vinoj@tehelka.com
Oct 28 , 2006
LINK
GROUND TURBULENCE IN TN
AIRPORT EXPANSION THREATENS TO WIPE OUT CHENNAI SUBURB
Pozhichalur residents say land acquisition was changed to suit land sharks, politicians and hoteliers
PC Vinoj Kumar
Chennai
The proposal to demolish hundreds of houses in a middle-class colony for the expansion of the Chennai airport has drawn out even housewives and children to protest on the streets. Tension prevails in Pozhichalur, Anagaputhur, Cowl Bazar and Pammal areas adjoining the airport, where the government has proposed to acquire about 1,457 acres for extending the airport. The chosen suburb is very much part of the city today. An estimated 30,000 people are likely to be displaced if the project is implemented in its present form. About 4,629 houses, 14 schools, eight government buildings, 23 temples, two churches and a ration shop would have to be razed under the plan.
Most homes have been built on government-approved layouts. Families have constructed houses on bank loans and retirement benefits. The government did not prohibit development in the area and consequently new houses were mushrooming at a frenzied pace till recently. The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CDMA) continued to grant permission for the buildings. So, the government order earmarking the area for the airport project early this year came as a rude shock to residents. In March, an order was passed freezing building activities in the area.
“We built the house about a year ago, spending our life savings on it. We are not going to surrender our homes to the government. The airport will be built only over our dead bodies. The government is creating terrorists by its senseless acts. If I didn’t have a son, I would have become one,” says Jamuna, a resident of Pozhichalur. There are others in the colony who share her view. Families are threatening to commit mass suicides, if the government decides to go ahead with the project. “The bulldozer has to mow down the house along with my family. We would rather die in the house than be homeless,” says Parameshwari, who has two daughters of marriageable age. Their only asset is their house.
OVERVIEW
Almost 30,000 people are likely to be displaced if the project is implemented in Pozhichalur and its neighbourhood
Families have built houses through bank loans and by investing their retirement benefits
In March, the state government passed an order freezing building activities in the area
Plan for greenfield airport in the outskirts of the city have no takers
The question that everyone’s asking is, why didn’t the government warn the people of the project when they registered land or at least when they sought building permission. The government’s action in announcing the project without even consulting the people is seen as a move that is “anti-people” and “undemocratic”.
Residents have staged several agitations demanding that the project be scrapped. Medha Patkar of the Narmada Bachao Andolan participated in a recent agitation and stated that the State had to consult the people at the grassroots, whether it be a dam or an airport. “Projects should be approved only after people were convinced about the cost, minimal impact on environment and factors relating to vested interests,” she said at a public meeting.
Thousands turn up at the protest meetings which are organised frequently. Emotions usually run high at the meetings. “If you destroy our homes for thesake of the airport, the airport itself will be destroyed,” a lawyer said at a meeting.
Many feel that the project itself is short-sighted and lacks vision. One of the residents, JP Mohandas, a post-graduate from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, has even prepared a set of alternative plans for the government after consulting experts. “While depriving the legitimate holdings of a sizable number of people, it should be seen whether the expansion would meet the requirements of the airport for another 50 years or so. The present airport cannot cater to the projected air traffic in Chennai even after a few years, in spite of the proposed parallel runway and expansion.” He points out that “the argument that land has to be acquired in public interest will not be tenable if alternate solutions are available”.
Nobody is disputing that passenger traffic at the Chennai airport has grown exponentially. The Anna International Terminal handled 2.6 million passengers in 2005-06, compared to 2.4 million passengers the previous year. The growth was more significant at the Kamaraj Domestic Terminal, thanks to the introduction of several low-cost carriers. From 3.2 million passengers in 2004-05, it handled 4.2 million passengers in 2005-06, an increase of 29.1 percent.
Though everyone speaks of the need to do something to handle the growing air traffic, very few experts think expanding the existing airport would solve the problem. On the other hand, there is overwhelming support for establishing a greenfield airport on the outskirts of Chennai, similar to ones being set up in Bangalore and Hyderabad. Mohandas has also suggested four locations near Chennai where a greenfield airport could be established.
Mohandas’ report points out the “operational handicaps in the proposed plan”. The Chennai airport operation is restricted to a “congested traffic environment” because of activities in Tambaram Air Force base, Arakkonam Naval Base, and the new Sriperumbudur Commercial training facility, says the report. It states: “The design (of the expansion plan) is technically poor and does not propose rapid exits or parallel taxiways and is certainly not in line with modern airport design thought.”
Apart from the alleged flaws in the plan, residents also suspect foul play in selecting land for the project. Authorities planned to acquire land on another side of the airport initially, according to D. Selva Rajan, president of the Federation of Pozhichalur Residents’ Welfare Associations. He says that in a letter dated May 25, 2005, to C. Santhanam, Member Secretary, CDMA, Rameshram Mishra, Chairman and Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) had stated that land for the project was falling in “Manapakkam, Kolapakkam, Gerugambakkam, Tharapakkam, Tandalam, Kovur, and Perpanicheri and Cowl Bazar villages.” There was no mention of Pozhichalur.
But by December new areas had been incorporated, the plan had changed. “We suspect that few bigwigs owning land in some of those villages must have bribed officials to change the plan,” says Selva Rajan. Residents also suspect that a strong ‘hotel lobby’ has met important leaders to push for the project. “The five-star hotels near the airport fear their business would be hit if a greenfield airport is built outside the city,” says K. Jayakumar, secretary of the residents’ association.
The residents have approached all major parties. But nobody has taken up their cause barring the cpm, which is opposed to the project. They had represented the matter to Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, who remains non-committal. Opinion is said to be divided within the ruling party on the project. While Karunanidhi and senior leader MK Stalin are supposedly in a dilemma, Union minister Dayanidhi Maran is said to be determined to implement the project.
Maran, residents say, was in favour of the project when they called on him recently. “He was against the greenfield airport concept. He assured we would be given ‘heavy’ compensation, and said we would be relocated with all amenities, but we refused to accept his views,” says L. Sivarajan, who led the delegation. Both the area MP and MLA are from the ruling DMK. TR Baalu, area mp and Union Minister of Shipping, was not available for comment, when Tehelka tried contacting him for his views.
Writer’s e-mail: vinoj@tehelka.com
Oct 28 , 2006
LINK
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