In August 2022, 13 revenue villages next to Parandur village in Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu was announced as the site for a greenfield airport. This airport was proposed as the second international airport that would supplement the existing one in Chennai to meet the surplus passenger traffic.

Soon after the site for airport was announced residents of affected villages, are completely dependent on the land for their livelihood, felt scared about losing their agricultural lands. Protests began in 2022 across villages in Walajabad Block and has continued since. In July 2024, their protest completed two years (731 days).

Even as the state government offered three and a half times the market value of the land as compensation, the community rejected it as they would lose their livelihoods if their lands were acquired from them. Villagers have been demanding the government to scrap the project. They have been urging the government to shift the project to another site such as Pannur, where fewer people rely on agricultural subsistence and there are less number of water bodies.

On 2 October 22022, a Gram Sabha resolution was passed by residents of affected villages expressing their opposition to the project. This was followed by a protest march towards the Tamil Nadu Secretariat with the demand that an alternative site be found for the project.

In November 2023, the Department of Industries, Investment Promotion and Commerce released the G.O. for land acquisition of 5746.18 acres at the chosen Parandur site, including 1,917.17 acres (35%) of commons (Poramboke) including (27%) water bodies, 3,500 acres of agricultural land (47% agricultural wetland, 17% agricultural dry land). It also includes 400 acres for the axillary infrastructure facilities, resettlements, approach roads, etc. The estimate of the project is Rs 32,705 crore for all four phases with additional infrastructure expenses that include Rs 11,000 crore Metrorail from Chennai to Parandur.

According to the government document shared under RTI, 13,000 people are likely to be impacted due to the project, with 6,356 of them from seven village requiring resettlement. It is important to note that the feasibility report estimates the number of households at 1,005.

Environmentalists believe that the project will have a long-lasting ecological impact as 36,000 trees are expected to be cut and water bodies, including 12 lakes, over 20 ponds, several small irrigating tanks and two major canals could be impacted due to construction activities. The canals are interconnected with Palar or Coocum rivers and lakes, jointly acting as the largest water resource for the Chennai Metropolitan City. 

On 26 February 2024, at least 94 farmers who staged a protest against land acquisition for the Parandur airport project in Tamil Nadu were detained by the police. The farmers raised slogans and demanded the state government to drop the project. Two days before the protest, the government had issued a notification to acquire land in Podavur village, which was one of the 13 villages selected for the project. 

Villagers have also been requesting access to reports made on hydrography by IIT-Madras and Anna university, Techno-Economy by Louis Berger Consulting Pvt Ltd, regarding the proposed airport, but their request has been denied. 

In Ekanapuram, nearly 2500 villagers have been protesting for two years in their own village next to a temple, with support from Nelvoy, Nagapattur, Parandur, Valathur. The villagers boycotted six Gram Sabha meetings and passed seven resolutions opposing the greenfield airport. Villagers from Ekanapuram and Nagapattur also boycotted the 2024 parliamentary election in protest against the land acquisition notice served in February 2024.

Komala from Nagapattur village of the Parandur panchayat union fears that they would be pushed to a new form of life where they have to earn for the water, food and even if one needs to defecate. In her village, farmers cultivate paddy as water is free. However, they fear that proposed project could pose serious threat to water security.

While sharing her memories of late son who built a house for them before he died, Alamelu N from the Ekanapuram village, asks, "If Stalin has all the rights, emotion to protest, file cases for former Chief Minister, DMK leader and his father M Karunanidhi for burial ground within Chennai in Marina beach, don’t we have rights to live and do agriculture in our lands? Our land is our rights and our identity."

Meanwhile, the state government passed a new law - Tamil Nadu Land Consolidation (for Special Projects) Act, 2023 - which intends to allow acquiring large parcels of land for special projects even if there are water bodies. The Steering Committee on the Greenfield Airport has granted the site clearance to the Project Proponent TIDCO in consultation with Airports Authority of India (AAI), Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Ministry of Defence/Indian Air Force as per GFA Policy. The Ministry of Defence also have granted NOC for site clearance.

Several political parties are expected to visit the protest site to the two years of ongoing protest in the Ekanapuram village. The government has floated notification in the newspaper for land acquisition in the outskirt villages. 

While the current passenger flow is 20 million per year in Chennai Meenambakkam Airport, the greenfield airport targets 100 million peak passenger handling capacity per year by the year 2052.