Committee to examine reclassification of water body

CHENNAI: The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has decided to constitute a committee comprising of officials from several government agencies to examine a proposal to reclassify a land in Nandambakkam into residential use zone as the land has been marked as water body belong to Adyar River.

As per the minutes of recently held authority meeting, the committee will comprise of senior officials CMDA, Water Resources Department, Revenue Department and Greater Chennai Corporation.

A private builder has applied to reclassify the land in Nandambakkam, which is about 6 acres and located close to Adyar River, to construct residential and school buildings. The application was first filed before 2019 but the planning authority refused to reclassify the land. As per the second master plan, the land is demarcated as a water body.

Committee will check the genuineness of revenue records, whether the land is a government poramboke or private patta land or whether it is a water body.

The committee will submit the report in the next authority meeting based on which the planning authority will take a final decision.

Due to rising concerns from the public, the CMDA has started to follow stricter norms while reclassifying water bodies into other uses.