Chennai, August 26: The CPI-M Tamil Nadu State Secretary, P. Shanmugam, has urged the government to return land acquired for the proposed Parandur Greenfield Airport to the farmers. This demand comes after the airport project was canceled, and there are discussions about repurposing the land for alternative industrial projects.
In a statement, Shanmugam expressed concerns regarding the future of the acquired land after the issue was raised in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Wednesday. Legislators sought clarification from the government on how it plans to utilize the land that was previously taken for the airport project.
In response to the inquiries, the Industry Minister hinted that the land could be used for other industrial ventures. Shanmugam opposed this proposal, arguing that the government cannot repurpose land acquired for a specific public purpose for an entirely different project after abandoning the original plan.
He cited the ‘Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013’ to support his demand. According to Shanmugam, the law mandates that land acquired for a specific project must be returned to its original owners if it remains unused for five years or if the project is abandoned. He emphasized that the law does not permit officials to retain such land indefinitely or transfer it to another scheme. Therefore, he argued that any attempt to use the Parandur land for unrelated industrial development would violate the law.
Farmers and residents from the villages earmarked for the proposed airport have long protested against the acquisition. Demonstrators have repeatedly warned that the project would lead to the loss of fertile agricultural land, homes, and livelihoods, as well as negatively impact local water bodies and the broader environment.
Shanmugam stated that the government must acknowledge that farmers only relinquished their land because it was intended for the airport. With the project’s cancellation, it is now the state’s legal and moral obligation to return the land to the farmers, rather than using it for other purposes without their consent.
He appealed to the administration to withdraw any proposals to repurpose the acquired land for other industries and to initiate the process of returning it to the original landowners immediately. He stressed that the government must ensure that decisions made after the airport project’s cancellation do not infringe upon the rights of the farmers.
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