CHENNAI: Opposition to the proposed greenfield airport project gathered political tempo on Tuesday with the AIADMK and the PMK announcing agitations, albeit at different places — Sriperumbudur and Tiruvallur — and on different dates. Meanwhile, Tiruvallur District Collector TP Rajesh has ordered an RDO inquiry into the police lathicharge on farmers who were agitating against the airport project on August 12.
AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa, in a statement here, announced that her party would stage a massive demonstration against the DMK government’s move to acquire 6,921 acres of cultivable lands of poor farmers from villages around Sriperumbudur for the greenfield airport project.
She said farmers and those who were staging a demonstration against the project on August 12 were beaten up by the police and cases foisted against them.
AIDMK cadre from Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts would stage a demonstration near the taluk office at Sriperumbudur on August 18.
Within a few hours of Jayalalithaa’s statement, PMK founder S Ramadoss too asked the government to give up the project and respect the voice of the people.
Observing that the government had earlier planned to acquire land around Oragadam for the greenfield project without touching cultivable lands but later ‘offered’ them to multinational companies, Ramadoss said in a statement that many village panchayats in Tiruvallur district had adopted resolutions on Independence day urging the State government to drop the project.
Ramadoss pointed out that large tracts of lands were in possession of private parties around Chennai. If the government acquired them, only a few persons would be affected. He said the PMK would stage an agitation at Tiruvallur on August 23.
The RDO inquiry into the attack on farmers on August 12 would be held on three days in the following villages: Vayalur, Vayalur Agaram, Uchimedu and Surakapuram (Sept 7) Mummudikuppam, Thirumanikuppam, Kanikapuram and Vasanampattu (Sept 8) and Thirupandhiyur, Pannur, Bheemapuram and Kottaiyur (Sept 9).