Protest against Chennai airport expansion

Chennai: Suburban residents affected by the airport expansion have again hit the streets to protest against the move. They have appealed to authorities to shift their focus to the Greenfield airport rather than evacuating them.
The Phase I expansion, for which 131 acres of land have been acquired and handed over to Airport Authority of India, will take care of the requirements till 2016.
“Even if a parallel runway is built, the terminal capacity and passenger movement can be increased from 23 million to 30 million only. This will be saturated by 2020 because of space constraints for additional terminal buildings. Hence, constructing a parallel runway becomes obsolete. It is, therefore, advisable to concentrate on the Greenfield airport, as the budget for expansion and a new airport is high,” said a member of the public at a press meet.
The residents cited the problem of flooding if the authorities were to consider a parallel runway. “During monsoon, water flows from Porur, Mathananthapuram and Moulivakkam to low-lying areas such as Manapakkam, Kolapakkam, Girugambakkam and Tharapakkam and drains into the Adyar river.
When a parallel runway is constructed and the periphery wall is built for around 5 km, the flood water will find no way to reach the Adyar river and will flood the entire region,” said S Somasekharaan, a representative of the residents.
01/01/09 Mamta Todi/ExpressBuzz

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Categories: Airports Jan 2009