Rains flood villages identified for building Chennai’s new airport

Residents of Parandur and Ekanapuram in Kanchipuram district have been up in arms against the Tamil Nadu government zeroing in on their villages to build a greenfield airport for Chennai on the grounds that the lands identified were not “suitable” for housing an airport as they are prone to floods during heavy rains.

The villagers now say they stand vindicated with heavy rains that lashed Chennai and its neighbouring districts last week under the influence of Cyclone Mandous flooding the large swaths of land that are to be acquired for the ambitious project. Residents posted videos of fertile land full of water on social media, reiterating their demand that the project be shelved and not implemented in Parandur.