Chennai, Aug 25:
We The Leaders chief K Annamalai on Monday criticised the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to scrap the proposed Parandur airport project, warning that the move could push the state’s development back by at least 10 years.
Reacting to Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s announcement in the Assembly that the Parandur project would be cancelled and alternative locations explored, Annamalai said the government should have simultaneously proposed a new site for Chennai’s second airport.
He urged the state government to carefully assess the “opportunity cost” of cancelling the Parandur project.
Even if an alternative location is identified immediately, the process of site selection, obtaining approvals from the Centre and statutory authorities, issuing tenders, acquiring land and securing necessary licences could take at least 10 years, Annamalai said.
“In the meantime, other states could move ahead and leave Tamil Nadu behind,” he said.
Annamalai also highlighted the limitations of the existing Chennai airport, which he said covers around 1,300 acres, compared with approximately 5,500 acres for Hyderabad airport, 4,000 acres for Bengaluru, 2,866 acres for Navi Mumbai and 5,100 acres for Delhi.
He said Chennai, once regarded as the gateway to South India, now ranks fifth in passenger handling capacity, behind Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
He further pointed to the shortage of taxiways and aerobridges, saying Chennai airport cannot be classified as a Code F airport and is consequently unable to handle large aircraft such as the Airbus A380.
Annamalai urged the government to expedite the identification of a suitable site for Chennai’s second airport.
“Political parties may come and go and governments may change. But 20 years from now, people of Tamil Nadu should not look back and feel that the administrators of the time lacked the vision to build proper airport infrastructure,” he said.
He also questioned what the government planned to do with the land already acquired for the Parandur project.
Citing reports from March, Annamalai said around 1,700 acres of the 5,746 acres required for the proposed airport had already been acquired by the state government.
“What does the state government now propose to do with the land that has already been acquired?” he asked.