I agree that finding 4,000 to 5,000 acres of land around Chennai without lakes, tanks, or wetlands is extremely difficult. The city's geography is built around an interconnected network of water bodies, making it unavoidable factor for large infrastructure projects.
The T. Nagar example is not a justification. While it evolved into one of Chennai's biggest economic hubs it also contributed to recurring floods, groundwater depletion, and water scarcity. The same pattern can be seen in many developed places of Chennai.
Similarly, Parandur Airport would have likely faced less opposition if the government clearly demonstrated how it intends to mitigate environmental impacts through a legally binding restoration plan, an official strategy to replace the 36,635 trees proposed for removal, detailed blueprint for the promised man-made lakes and a strong accountability framework to ensure that promised ecological safeguards are actually implemented again through the project or atleast around the project area.
The whole point is not to stop development but to plan it responsibly with ecological consideration.
The clowns opposing Parandur keep saying, "Saar, we don't want an airport over water bodies, saar."
The reality is that you can't find a large alternative site in or around Chennai without water bodies. That's the simple fact these clowns can't seem to fathom.
T. Nagar itself was built over what were once water bodies, and today it is one of Chennai's biggest economic powerhouses.
Development over this green nonsense.