Vijay to lead protest against Parandur airport on Jan 20

Actor and Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) Chief Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar will lead a protest on January 20 at Eganapuram village, Kanchipuram against the greenfield airport which is to be Chennai’s second airport. Vijay has sought permission to visit the village where the airport is planned.

The protest, comes amidst the ongoing struggle of about 20 villages who have been opposing the project since 2022. Vijay sought permission to hold the meeting on January 19 or 20 and Kanchipuram Police allowed him to do so on January 20.

TVK office bearers have already started preparing for the event by meeting the protest committee leaders. On Pongal day, two TVK state office bearers Jagannathan and another member visited Eganapuram and identified 5 acres of land for the meeting.

Meanwhile, on Friday, TVK General Secretary N Anand inspected the levelling of a vacant ground near Ambedkar statue in Eganapuram village where Vijay will be addressing the people.

Since the Centre announced Parandur as the site for the greenfield airport in August 2022, the residents have been protesting vehemently against the project citing ecological damage and loss of agricultural land. The project requires 5746 acres of land across 20 villages and the airport is to be completed by 2028.

Residents especially from Eganapuram – one of the most affected villages – say that the project will destroy fertile agricultural land and eco-sensitive water bodies and thereby their livelihoods and local ecosystems.

Protests including night time protests have reached 900 days on January 10. Villagers have also boycotted grama sabha meetings, elections and passed resolutions demanding to scrap the project.