CHENNAI: Farmers and villagers opposing the proposed greenfield airport in Parandur have approached the Madras High Court, challenging the reclassification and acquisition of fertile agricultural lands and water bodies for the project.
The writ petition filed by the Kali Eri Water Users Association, represented by its president B Kamalakannan, has been admitted and listed for hearing on Thursday. Sources told TNIE that Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) led by actor-politician Vijay is lending their support to the case.
Kamalakannan argues that the project violates the Revenue Standing Order-24, which prohibits reclassification of tanks, channels and ponds for non-irrigation purposes. He says Kali Eri, a centuries-old irrigation tank fed by the Palar River through the Pambakkal Channel, sustains thousands of farmers in the area.
"The destruction or reclassification of this notified irrigation source extinguishes farmers’ statutory rights and is ex facie illegal," the petition stated.
The plea further cites violations of Article 21 of the Constitution, arguing that depriving farmers of their sole livelihood source amounts to denial of the right to life. It also invokes the Doctrine of Public Trust, holding the state responsible as trustee of natural resources, and asserts that Environmental Clearance under the EIA Notification, 2006, cannot override state-level protections for water bodies.
The petition specifically challenges Government Order dated October 31, 2023, which sanctioned the airport, and subsequent applications filed by TIDCO before the Union Environment Ministry acknowledging that 576.74 hectares — about 26.5 per cent of the project area — comprise irrigation tanks and water bodies.
Protestors have been on the ground for over two years, staging continuous sit-ins across Ekanapuram and nearby villages, demanding that the government drop the site, citing irreversible ecological and agrarian damage.