CHENNAI: Charging that opposition parties were seeking to stage agitations against the greenfield airport project out of political jealousy, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Wednesday said only soil tests had been conducted at Sriperumbudur and Tiruvallur taluks. The alleged land acquisition had not begun, he clarified.
Referring to the protests announced by the AIADMK and the PMK, the CM said, “If the Centre decides to give up the project due to these agitations, Tamil Nadu will be the loser, not the Union government.”
Pointing out that the decision to go ahead with the project was taken at an all-party meeting on May 22, 2007, he said last month the government had asked the Airport Authority of India to acquire the barest minimum land for the project. Soil tests were held on 4,200 acres in 64 places, he added.
Tests to check the technical and economic feasibility of the project were held at Thirumangalam, Molachur, Sogandi, Mambakkam, Sriperumbudur, Kilai, Sirukilai, Vadamangalam and Padicherry in Sriperumbudur taluk, and Kottaiyur, Vayalur, Thirupanthiyur in Thiruvallur taluk, the CM said.
The Union government decided to extend existing airports in metropolitan cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai due to the booming industrial growth. Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have already overtaken Tamil Nadu in establishing greenfield airports, he pointed out.
Commenting on PMK founder S Ramadoss’ suggestion that the project be shifted to a place where people would not be affected, Karunanidhi said the government had not taken a decision in this regard in a perfunctory manner. “Only after inspecting many places and taking into account the number of people who would be affected by the project, the government came to a decision,” he claimed.
“The government has no intention to take over residential places and cultivable lands deliberately. Besides, the government is keen on extending appropriate compensation for land that will be acquired under unavoidable circumstances,’’ the chief minister said.