Thiru

Immediately after assuming office, those with close access to the corridors of power in the DMK were informed that Parandur had been chosen as the site for Tamil Nadu’s second airport. This triggered a massive real estate boom in and around the proposed airport site, with thousands of crores flowing into land purchases. Land prices skyrocketed—from around ₹20 lakh per acre to nearly ₹4 crore within a year. DMK ministers, IAS officers, and influential real estate players invested substantial amounts, including unaccounted wealth, in anticipation of the project’s appreciation. As the people of Ekanapuram began protesting against the airport, the village was effectively turned into a fortress. Police manned every entry point, preventing the agitation from receiving wider public attention. When I visited Ekanapuram in 2023, I was met with police barricades. Despite there being no prohibitory orders in force, gatherings of more than four people were not permitted inside the village. A criminal case was even registered against me simply for entering the village. The villagers stood virtually alone in their struggle. No major political party, including the then principal opposition AIADMK, extended meaningful support to them. Today, the speculative real estate bubble around Parandur has burst, and land prices have fallen sharply. Those who invested heavily in anticipation of the airport have suffered significant losses. Without the airport project moving forward, it is unlikely that property values will return to those inflated levels. Whatever one’s views on the broader development debate, there is a certain irony in seeing those who sought to profit from insider access and speculative investments bear the consequences of their own gamble.