Owners oppose land acquisition for airport runway expansion.

A forum of landowners from Karipur, Kondotty, Pallikkal and Nediyiruppu in Malappuram district has opposed the move to acquire land for the expansion of the Calicut International Airport. It announced at a press meet in Kozhikode recently that a protest march would be taken out on July 26 to the land acquisition office at Karipur.

The announcement appeared timed to coincide with the meeting Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had called on July 20 in Thiruvananthapuram with the officials, elected representatives and chambers of commerce in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts to break the impasse on airport development, particularly land acquisition.

While the organisations in Kozhikode had hinted at opposition to the acquisition from some sections in these areas, the forum came out openly on Tuesday to argue that the expansion of the airport through such huge land acquisition was unwarranted.

Forum chairman C. Mohammed Ali alleged there was a unilateral attempt to acquire land, without any consultations with the owners. For various developments at the airport, land had been acquired 12 times and people had to relocate. Many of these people would have to relocate again if more land were to be acquired.

Forum convener C. Jasir and treasurer K.K. Moosakutty asked why should further expansion be made at the cost of environment, when nearby hills had already been flattened to create the runway and other structures.

The present length of the runway was 2,850 metres and the land acquisition was aimed at increasing it, on the basis of an argument that large aircraft could land only if there was a larger runway. But, there were many other airports in the country where such aircraft landed and took off from smaller runways, they said.

THE HINDU