HC tells Madurai villagers to vacate land acquired for airport expansion

Madurai: Madras high court on Friday directed residents of Chinna Udaippu village in Madurai district, whose land parcels were acquired by the state govt for expansion of Madurai airport, to vacate their premises within two weeks. Failing this, it is open to the govt to take possession by using force, as authorised under the relevant statute.A division bench of Justices G Jayachandran and K K Ramakrishnan directed the petitioners to submit their consent letter to the district collector to receive the 2 cents of land offered by the govt within two weeks. The collector shall allot the land upon considering their eligibility, within two weeks of receipt of the consent letter. Necessary orders should be issued for building the houses at govt's cost, as agreed before the court.
The court was hearing a batch of petitions filed by the villagers. They said there are 300 families belonging to the scheduled caste community in Chinna Udaippu. A 2009 notification said patta lands belonging to the villagers were to be acquired for airport expansion. Notifications were issued from 2013 to 2020 for fixing compensation for the land, and it was distributed by 2023.They said that during land acquisition, the authorities never initiated a proper rehabilitation plan. Though villagers sought alternative land, construction of new houses, and govt job to a member of every household, it was not considered. Hence, they moved court in 2024 seeking a direction not to evict them. The judges observed that the state govt and Airports Authority of India (AAI), in order to address the long-pending demand of the people of southern Tamil Nadu for upgrading Madurai airport as an international airport, decided to acquire 633.17 acres of land for expansion and development of the airport. The acquisition proceedings had already been substantially completed in respect of more than 90% of the lands much prior to 2010. The petitioners alone stalled the acquisition and prevented the authorities from taking possession of the remaining lands even after receiving compensation.To address the grievances of the petitioners, the state govt, as a special measure, took a policy decision to allot two cents of developed land in nearby Perungudi and also undertook to assist in building residential houses under a special rehabilitation scheme, namely, "Kalaignarin Kanavu Illam". The govt has acted in a fair, reasonable, and magnanimous manner in granting additional compensation and also to provide alternative house sites to the petitioners, the judges observed."Their continuous objection in preventing the taking over of possession, in spite of the offer by the govt to provide 2 cents of land with a further undertaking to construct the house under the special scheme, establishes their clear intention to obstruct the project without any bona fides under the guise of caste with vested interest," the judges said and dismissed the petitions.