Ramadoss comes to rescue of residents
Saturday January 20 2007 10:14 IST Indian Express

CHENNAI: The residents of Pammal, Pozhichalur, Anakaputhur and Cowl Bazaar, which are under the cloud of a proposed airport expansion, saw a saviour in PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss, when he promised to join their struggle should any ‘wrong decisions’ be made, on Friday.

While talking to residents in a meeting organised by the Struggle Committee of Pozhichalur, Anakaputhur, Cowl Bazaar and Pammal, at Pallavaram, Ramadoss said the PMK would not allow either land acquisition or displacement of people for the project.

The PMK was the first party to take up the issue of the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) creating problems for residents in specific areas, he further said. Ramadoss said he supported the idea of a greenfield airport, for which tracts of vacant land outside the city in Oragadam and Sriperumbudur could be used.

He also suggested an elevated road connecting the airport with the city. This greenfield airport should be constructed only by the Civil Aviation Ministry and the Airports Authority of India and not by any private parties, he opined.

Highlighting the fact that present land rules were framed during the British rule, he said only some modifications were introduced in the 1960s. However, the State had no right to acquire resident’s land without their consent, he remarked.

As for the present controversy, Ramadoss hoped that Chief Minister M Karunanidhi would never act against the interests of the common people. The residents who spoke to the leader faulted the State and Central Governments for not taking the initiative to solve the issue through dialogue, though it had been simmering for about a year.

They asserted that they were not against the expansion, but only against acquiring residential area, where most of the people had houses which were their sole asset.