Chennai: With the state government issuing a government order notifying the expansion of Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA), the Tamil Nadu Housing and Urban Development Department is all set to open its window to receive suggestions from the public.
According to the recent government order, after receiving expansion proposal from the CMDA member secretary, the government has decided to declare intention to include additional areas from Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Vellore districts.
However, the government order, according to official sources in the housing department, is initial stride towards the seven-fold expansion of CMA that would come under the purview of Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA).
“We have already received resolutions from local bodies that are to be annexed with CMA. The resolutions are pre-requisite for the annexation to carry out,” a departmental source said.
The official also added that the expansion process would be completed and final notification would be issued only after receiving suggestions from the public residing at those local bodies.
“By the government order, the district collectors of Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Vellore are directed to publish the notification their respective district gazettes.
The department will issue a separate seeking suggestion from the public soon,” the official said.
With the ambitious expansion plan, which is aimed to ensure 'uniform' development in the region, the CMA is set to relegate Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and other metropolitans in terms of area covered. If the plan goes well, Chennai would be the second largest metropolitan planning area in the country after National Capital Region (NCR). It is noteworthy that the move shelved for over six years has been finally dusted off.
During the assembly session, Radhakrishnan announced that the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) would be expanded to cover 8,878 sq km from its current 1,189 sq km. All of Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts, as well as Arakkonam taluk in Vellore district, would be part of the new CMA, the minister told in July 2017.
