Patkar snubs Chennai airport expansion

Chennai: It is not a common sight where one sees Medha Patkar, leader of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), shouting slogans in Tamil. But whatever is the language, Patkar’s cause is the same.

The lady was in Chennai to lend her voice to a group of people who are on the verge of losing their homes. They are opposing the Chennai airport expansion plans that is threatening to displace more than 5,000 households.

And though Patkar’s English speech required Tamil translation, her message was clear.

"If Karunanidhi can oppose the divestment of Neyveli Lignite Corporation, with or without vote bank intentions, he can and must oppose a so called development plan that will snatch away homes of so many people,” Patkar said.

The international airport expansion needs 1,400 acres and that space has been identified on the land that is home to people who have spent perhaps their entire life's savings on building their house brick by brick.

“It is our dream house, we have invested our time and money. If they give us compensation or rehabilitation, we don't want it,” a resident of Pozhichalur, Saraswati said.

Patkar had gone on a 20-day hunger strike earlier this year to protest the raising of the Narmada dam height, but doesn't recommend the same method for these residents. She encouraged them to present their alternative plan to the state government.

"You see these people have proper licenses and land papers. They're middle class, not called encroachers like the slum dwellers. They can depend on these things,” she said.

The protests in the form of hunger strikes and human chains, which have been going on for more than six months, have a new dimension to it now. Fifteen residents are standing as independent candidates in the coming local body polls and with Medha Patkar taking up their cause, they hope that it will stop their homes from coming crashing down.

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