TELEGRAMS OF PROTEST: So far, the citizens have sent over 5,000 telegrams.


TN CM's mailbox full of telegrams

Sandhya Ravishankar
CNN-IBN



TELEGRAMS OF PROTEST: So far, the citizens have sent over 5,000 telegrams.
Chennai: It's an organised protest, but with a difference.


Residents of Pozhichalur, a suburb of Chennai located just behind the airport, still believe that the pen is mightier than the sword.


They are sending off over 5,000 telegrams to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to get state government to act.


Their reason: once the Chennai airport expansion plans get underway, their homes will be gone.


"Telegrams convey a sense of urgency and we want the Chief Minister to treat our problem as an urgent one. So we're sending off 5,000 telegrams asking him to consider our plight," says a resident of Anakaputhur, B Kumar.


Expanding the Chennai airport means that close to 1,500 acres of the surrounding areas like Anakaputhur and Pozhichalur will be taken over by the government.


Nearly 60,000 people will be displaced.


"We don't have any money and I still haven't paid back the loan on my house. I'm a retired policeman. At this age how will I look for a new house and relocate?" rues another resident of Pozhichalur


Karunanidhi has promised that expansion of the airport will not be done at the cost of the poor. But locals are clearly not convinced and have decided that when all else fails, re-inventing Gandhi is the best bet.


And Gandhigiri has definitely given them a brand new set of wings.

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