Residents of Eganapuram, Parandur and 13 villages took out a rally to submit a petition to Kancheepuram Collector against the proposed Greenfield airport undertaking on Monday. The police stopped them and guaranteed the petitioners to facilitate a gathering with the involved Ministers tomorrow.
The Residents of areas near the Adyar basin and social activists wrote an open letter to the Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority (TNSDMA) Monday, complaining that the proposed Greenfield airport in Kancheepuram’s Parandur will adversely affect the region and its inhabitants.
In the letter, they highlighted the increased ‘risks’ posed by the proposed airport to areas downstream of River Adyar, particularly floodplains and low-lying regions.The residents complained that the proposed airport would affect the livelihoods of vulnerable sections including the poor, women, and differently-abled persons.
The letter highlighted that the proposed 4,500-acre airport won’t solely have an effect on unbuilt agricultural wetlands and poromboke waterbodies on the location, but in addition have implications for Chennai metropolis because the possible mega industrial exercise to observe the airport would possibly warrant a stormwater micro-drain community and rainwater harvesting constructions on website.
They said that the land chosen for the airport falls within the southwestern catchment area (500 sq km) of Adyar, and water from the area drains into the river by passing through Manimangalam, Perungalathur, Tambaram, Mudichur, and Varadharajapuram – neighbourhoods that were severely affected during the 2015 Chennai floods.While the flood carrying capability of the Adyar river is simply about 2,038 m3/s (72,000 cusecs), through the 2015 floods, the circulate from the southwestern catchment, which incorporates the Parandur airport website, alone contributed 3000 m3/s to the Adyar river, the letter famous, referring to a research of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Water Research on the Indian Institute of Science.
“The proposed 4500 acre (18 sq km) Parandur airport site is mostly unbuilt agricultural wetlands, poramboke water bodies and other poramboke commons. As important it is to protect the wetlands and commons, this proposal’s implication for the city of Chennai should disturb planners. Increasing the built-up area and impermeable land cover of a 18 sq km site in a river basin that is already under severe… stress is a recipe for disaster,” the letter reads.
The letter urged the TNSDMA to carry out an investigation to verify the basis of the concerns, and weigh in with the state government to protect the interests of farmers in Parandur and residents of Chennai.
