CHENNAI: Cheyyur in Chengalpet district is likely to be the first choice of the Tamil Nadu govt to develop the proposed second airport, govt sources told TOI.The govt is also discussing ways to return the acquired parcels of land at Parandur to their earlier owners. On Aug 24, chief minister C Joseph Vijay announced the cancellation of the Parandur airport project, for which the previous govt had acquired 1,802 acres out of the 3,874 acres of patta land identified.Manellore in Gummidipoondi, Tiruvallur district, is another site recently shortlisted by the state govt for the Airports Authority of India’s pre-feasibility study.“In Cheyyur, 90km from Chennai, the govt has 623 acres earlier acquired for a power project by Union govt through Tamil Nadu Power Finance Corporation. There are also about 300 acres of poramboke land. The power project was shelved towards the end of the previous AIADMK govt. So Cheyyur is being considered for the airport project,” a govt official said.Manellore, which is an alternative option, may raise environment concerns due to its proximity to Pulicat lake, officials said. The final picture, however, will emerge only after AAI submits its pre-feasibility study report. A senior airport official said the existing airport is capable of handling the projected traffic for a few more years, but further expansion is not possible.Chennai airport has an annual passenger-handling capacity of 30 million. The development of Terminal 3 is expected to raise the overall capacity to 35 million passengers a year. AAI has also proposed a satellite terminal with an additional capacity of 20 million passengers annually.Since the satellite terminal would be built within the existing airport premises, it would not require additional land acquisition. “We are planning an elevated express corridor for approach from a national highway,” the airport official said.
