Sit-in protest prevented @ Airport
An attempt made by the owners of the lands leased and under possession of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) on Friday to enter the airport in a bid to take possession of their lands was foiled by the police.The entry of AAI officials and personnel into the lands after April 9 would amount to trespassing, the owners said. The plan of a sit-in protest was also prevented by the police. In a release, Ravichandran and P.R. Jagannathan on behalf of the land owners said that 22.54 acres in Singanallur village was under possession of the AAI. These lands were acquired under the Requisition and Acquisition of Immovable Properties Act during the World War II period. The lands were taken over for the purpose of use by the defence forces in 1939.
An agreement was executed in 1942 stating that the lease would be for the purpose of war and for six months after that. The lands were then handed over to the Aviation Ministry and then to the AAI. The agreement had lapsed. The lease rental remained very meagre and after a long struggle, the District Revenue officials after a tripartite meeting revised the lease rentals and the proposal is pending confirmation with the Board of the AAI.
Under such circumstances, the lease rental continues to remain unpaid since 2003. Repeated representations and agitations had gone in vain, with the AAI failing to act. The owners of the leased lands and their generations are languishing in poverty while their lands were being enjoyed by a Government agency without even paying a fair lease rental, the office-bearers said.
The nearly 200 land owners resolved to move into their lands as it was already informed by the Association on March 28, 2009. The land owners would also stage a demonstration on the south side of the airport, the organisers said.
