Tamil Nadu   

Non-availability of encumbrance-free land a stumbling block

T.S. Shankar

There is no visible sign of Chennai getting a new airport

CHENNAI: Representatives of the Union Civil Aviation Ministry and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) have been holding a series of meetings with top ranking bureaucrats in Tamil Nadu to identify suitable encumbrance-free land for the Chennai airport expansion.

The previous AIADMK government had opted for a Greenfield airport in Chennai and announced its decision to acquire 1457.5 acres of land on the northern side of the existing main runway. But the DMK, the BJP, the CPI (M) and the local residents launched a series of protests. The proposed expansion work was then put on hold after the Madras High Court ordered a stay.

After the DMK was voted to power, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, Union Ministers-- Dayanidhi Maran, T.R. Baalu, G.K. Vasan--met the Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Praful Patel, and impressed upon him the need to take up modernisation of the Chennai airport. With the encumbrance free land acquisition becoming a stumbling block, there is no visible sign of Chennai getting a new airport.

While sources in the Tamil Nadu Government are pushing for the expansion of the existing airport instead of a Greenfield airport, a clearer picture on the exact location is expected only after the State Government zeroes in on the land for further development of the airport.

Immediate option

Construction of a second runway to run parallel to the existing main runway on the other side of Adyar river with a new passenger terminal building constructed between the two runways seems to be the immediate option before the Tamil Nadu Government as recommended in a techno-feasibility report prepared by the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation when the DMK was in power between 1996 and 2001.

According to highly placed sources in the Civil Aviation Ministry, two other sites--Oragadam on the GST road and Sriperumbudur were suggested by the DMK Government for constructing a new airport. But, the Civil Aviation Ministry has conveyed that two airports in Chennai would not be feasible and a Greenfield airport would be viable only if the existing airport is closed.

Complex in nature

The hurdles confronting the AAI authorities in Chennai and the Tamil Nadu Government are complex in nature since there were other major restrictions such as Indian Air Force station in Tambaram, the INS Rajali Naval Air Base in Arakonam, an arterial highway running parallel to the existing airport, besides a St. Thomas Mount hillock on the flight path and another hill (near Tirusoolam railway station) with a firing range.

The Tamil Nadu Government has also decided not to displace residents on the Pozhichalur, Gowl Bazaar and other nearby areas.

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