No formal bid to shift Parandur airport site: DMK MP

The proposed site for a new greenfield airport at Parandur in Tamil Nadu remains unaffected by any requests to change its location, according to DMK Member of Parliament P. Wilson. He stated that the Union government has not received any formal proposal from the state government to alter the site selection.

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To my Parliamentary question regarding whether the new Tamil Nadu government has requested the Centre to change the proposed site of the Parandur Chennai greenfield airport and the details of the request, if so, the Minister Murlidhar Mohol replied with a firm, No.

This assertion comes despite recent comments from a state minister suggesting the project might be reconsidered. Minister R. Nirmal Kumar indicated that establishing runways at Parandur could be unfeasible due to the presence of numerous water bodies on the land. He cited discussions with Airport Authority of India officials who reportedly advised against the site's suitability for runway development.

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Therefore, the Parandur Greenfield airport project conceived by the DMK government remains unaffected based on the Union minister’s reply.

Kumar emphasized the government's commitment to environmental protection, noting that the proposed 4,000-acre site includes significant paddy cultivation and water bodies. He suggested that a policy shift based on ecological considerations might be necessary, and that the party would make a decision at the appropriate time after a feasibility study.

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We have not procedurally violated anything. We are taking a policy shift based on the ecology. There are many dry lands in Chennai and after doing a feasibility study we will do it at an appropriate time following the due process.

The ambitious project, initially announced in August 2022 by the then chief minister M.K. Stalin with an estimated cost of ₹20,000 crore and a capacity of 100 million passengers annually, has faced considerable opposition. Residents of Parandur and surrounding villages have been protesting for over a year, fearing the airport's impact on their livelihoods.

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See, one project I will tell you - the Parandur airport. When I was looking at the Parandur airport site 3-4 years back when I met the protests team, the land comprised of 4,000 acres and and the protest team have been cultivating paddy and nearly 800-900 acres. There are water bodies on the Parandur land.