Responding to a query in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on the land acquired so far, she cited the provisions of Tamil Nadu Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 which states that if the project for which the land is acquired does not take off for any reason, that land can be used by the government for alternate projects.
Reportedly 1,700 acres of land has been acquired for the project.
In the Assembly debate on Tuesday, Keerthana said one of the reasons to cancel the Parandur airport project was that rice cultivation happened in the region across three major seasons.
Also read: Grounding of Parandur plan: Will it hurt TN dream?
In rotation, farmers were cultivating groundnut, sugarcane and pulses and millets in dry seasons, she said.
About 1000 metric tonnes of rice were supplied to the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation annually and for public distribution system, the Minister pointed out.
She said that the region was full of water bodies and there were two canals. “If it is demolished, there is a threat of Chennai hit with floods,” she added.
On concerns over industrial growth being affected due to cancellation of project, Keerthana pointed out the 41 per cent of electronics exports happened through the current Chennai airport and ports.
“How does that happen, without depending on the Parandur airport,” she queried.
Keerthana also questioned the previous regime for not taking up the current Chennai airport expansion, despite the nod from the Central government.
She assured the members that the government would acquire only those lands which did not affect people whether it was for second airport or Sipcot.