The new Chennai Greenfield International Airport, an ambitious project coming up about 59 kms from the existing airport, is the second such airport to be established in Chennai. The project, which would be built near Parandur of Kanchipuram district, would displace thousands of residents living around about 5,000 acres of land. Since being announced, the project has been received with widespread protests by the villagers. Many among them demanded fertile land in exchange for their lands, some others simply refuse to relocate, while yet another bunch of villagers are willing to relocate in order to see development projects coming to their village.
After facing major resistance against the project, the Tamil Nadu government raised compensations to encourage relocation of the villagers. The cash compensation for the land was raised by three-fold, alternative land provisions were promised, and a government job for one member of each of the families who are affected was offered. However, over 150 days into the protests, the villagers stay grounded in their demands to leave out their lands from government's large-scale projects.
A Greenfield Airport By Uprooting Fields
Nestled between Kancheepuram and Arakkonam, Parandur is a quaint small village that is noted for its rich resources in the form of water bodies and farmlands. Apart from offering a wonderous feast to the eyes, these land and water bodies form a major part of Parandur population's livelihood. Today the view has transformed with barricades and barbed wires placed all around the villages amidst protests by farmers against the land acquisition for the airport project.
Spread over 13 villages, the airport project will be uprooting majority of the population's occupations by displacing them. Farmers and fishermen staged multiple walkouts and demonstrations to convey that they would vacate the land only if they are offered plots of land similar to the one they hold in Parandur, so that they could continue their farming and fishing activities to sustain their livelihood. They have been resentful about the project since the early 2000's (when the Tamil Nadu Government identified the lands for the project) in the fear of displacement and loss of sustainable livelihood options.
"Vendaam Vimana Nilayam"
"Vendum Vivasayaam, Vendam Vimana Nilayam" (we need our lands and not an airport)," was the voice of Parandur villagers for the longest time. Farmers were not inclined to part with their land for urban developmental projects. An elderly resident from the Ekanapuram village - epicentre of the protests, was quoted saying "Even if I die, I will not part with even a handful of sand from my land." Elderly and young continue to hold their lands close and have been inviting more villagers to join the demonstrations as it covered over 150 days by December.
According to the protestors, within the 13 villages under the project, an extent of 4,563.56 acres is proposed to be acquired for the project which includes 3,246.38 acres of private patta land and 1,317.18 acres of government-owned 'poromboke' land. In the village of Nelvoy, a farmer named Guna ponders over why the government could not opt for a barren land elsewhere for the airport project. "We have lived here for generations. We survived without any outside support even during the pandemic times. Farming and cattle rearing are pretty close to our hearts," appeals Guna.
As per records, at least 1,005 families, most of them being from Most Backward Classes (MBC) and Scheduled Castes (SC), are likely to be displaced if the airport project turns into a reality. Until then, police barricades and regulations against press media persist in the region in the face of the ongoing protests. A report by the New Indian Express quoted a cop explaining the police presence in the locality by stating that they want to prevent the rise of anti-social elements infiltrating and hijacking the protests. He was also cited saying that farmers are welcome to convey their opinion or grievances to anyone, and that the government has repeatedly assured that farmers' interests will be protected.
Ongoing Talks And Developmental Dreams
To start off the ₹20,000 crore airport project, talks were held at least twice with the villagers and experts were asked to study the area's geological features. Some among the villagers, like septuagenarian Kumaran, feels that it is essential to 'move on,' so that future generations would not have to toil on the fields like they did all their lives. Manickam to agrees on the same lines and said that, "From my childhood, nothing has changed here. Let there be an airport. It will bring prosperity to the entire Kanchipuram district."
While these countable few villagers and panchayat chief view the project in a positive light, their view does not seem to resonate among a cross-section of people. Among the examples of this are the women-led protests that surfaced in Nagapattu, one among the constituent villages of Parandur panchayat and the native village of the panchayat chief. These protests are spread across different regions among different people, for whom their lands are a lot more valuable than the 'One-crore compensations' per acre (almost thrice the land's market value).
Even supporters of the ruling government seem to be in dissonance with their party's decisions. A senior citizen who's family members are office-bearers in the ruling party, conveyed that "Our family worked hard for Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's (DMK) victory. Now, the government is keen on taking away our land and uprooting us from our home." She slammed the airport project decision saying that there is absolutely no question of discussing compensations and just wanted to live peacefully in their own lands.
A good majority of the villagers, after finishing their work, promptly converge at 8pm every day to continue their protests. Huddled in front of the village temple - children, men, women, all of them come together holding candles and black flags to raise slogans. An 82-year old protestor, Krishnamoorthy, says that the 'sense of belonging' is what has been driving him to the protests despite his age-related challenges. As the government continues to move trucks in and around the village, Subramanian, the key leader of the Struggle Committee stated that the villagers would continue to hold peaceful protests till such a day comes that the government would keep the airport project off their lands and homes.
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