CHENNAI: Exnora International, in a letter addressed to the Chief Minister and the Prime Minister, has protested the Government's proposal to take over land belonging to residents of Pammal, Anakaputhur and Pozhichalur to expand the Chennai airport.

The Exnora, representing the Federation of Residents Welfare Associations of Anakapthur, Pammal, Pozhichalur and Nagalkenni, said the State and Central governments must consider that nearly 30,000 residents would be displaced by the airport expansion plans.

M. B. Nirmal, founder of Exnora, said the airport development was being done in phases whenever there was a steep increase in air traffic. "Our expansion plans should be at least till 2050," he said, claiming that the present location of the airport was inappropriate as it was sandwiched between two Air Force stations, in the North/North West vector at Arakkonam and in the South/South East vector at Tambaram.

Mr. Nirmal said the airport had restricted airspace. "Its open corridors are through heavily populated areas. Its approaches are from over Anna Nagar, Koyambedu and Adyar, St. Thomas Mount." The take-off and landing gets restricted to one or two directions during the North East and South West monsoon seasons, he said.

The Exnora suggested that the airport be shifted outside Chennai, near Sriperumbudur, where a vast sheet of flat land was available. "World over, airports are located outside the cities ...The connection between Chennai and Sriperumbudur can be improved by a fast point-to-point train and a two-tier road," Mr. Nirmal said.

The other option was to have a domestic airport in Chennai and a new international airport at Sriperumbudur, he said.

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