CHENNAI: The villagers of Eganapuram marked the 15th time of formally opposing the Parandur greenfield airport by passing a resolution against the proposed project during the Gram Sabha meeting on Saturday.
About 5,746 acres of land across 20 villages, including Parandur and Eganapuram, are to be acquired for the project touted to be Chennai's second airport. The Revenue department and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) have already begun compensation and registration procedures for the identified lands.
Since the project was announced, residents of Parandur, Eganapuram and neighbouring villages have been staging sustained protests demanding that the government drop the proposal. Villagers have also been holding nighttime demonstrations for over 1,100 days to express their opposition to land acquisition. They have also boycotted six of the 21 Gram Sabha meetings held since the project's announcement, but on legal advice, they now attend every meeting and record their opposition in the minutes of the meeting.
At Saturday’s Gram Sabha meeting, a Revenue official representing the government reportedly requested residents not to pass the resolution. However, villagers refused and reiterated their concerns over the loss of land and livelihood. "This is about our future. If the airport is built, Eganapuram will disappear from the map. We will become refugees in our own homeland," said one of the residents.