Worry, anger, and helplessness as residents come to grips with news of Chennai’s new airport

It has been more than 25 days since the Tamil Nadu and the central governments said a second airport for Chennai would come up at Parandur, about 59km from the airport at Meenambakkam.

Residents of Parandur, in Kancheepuram district, have since been apprehensive and felt helpless as they have no clue about how the project is going to be implemented. Always talking about the new airport—while having breakfast, working, grazing goats or riding two-wheelers—they are worried whether every new car entering their villages is bringing land acquisition officials.

“We have lost sleep and we are hardly having any meals. The happiness we had all these years is destroyed by the announcement from the government,” says 52-year-old Tamil Selvi, who farms on leased land at Nagapattu.