India, Aug. 25 -- Tamil Nadu has scrapped plans for a greenfield airport at Parandur after a sustained, 1,000-day protest by farmers of Ekanapuram and neighbouring villages.

Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay told the Assembly the project would be abandoned because it threatened fertile farmland, vital water bodies and rural livelihoods, and that the state will now seek an alternative site for Chennai's second airport.

For the farmers of Ekanapuram village in Tamil Nadu's Kanchipuram district, the announcement came after years of waiting, protesting and refusing to surrender. On August 24, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay told the Assembly that his government was abandoning the proposed greenfield airport at Parandur in the heart of ...