Loop Road to make Tirumazhisai the next urban hotspot

CHENNAI: The development of Tirumazhisai, a suburb located to the west of the city in Tiruvallur district, is on the anvil.

To make it a popular urban space, the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has issued notifications for declaration of intention to develop a Loop Road for Tirumazhisai New Town under the land pooling scheme.

Under the scheme, 1,605.75 acres of land will be acquired from landowners and developed as a road along with residential and commercial space including office spaces by the planning authority. The overall 1,605.75 acres has been segregated into 7 land pooling schemes.

Anshul Mishra, member secretary of CMDA, said: “The planning authority has a proposal to develop a 30-metre-wide Loop Road for Tirumazhisai and the required land will be acquired under the land pooling scheme. Under this, 60% of the developed land will be returned to the owners, and the remaining will be used by the planning authority to create roads and other amenities. This will increase the value of properties by at least three times. We’ll do plotting apart from providing sewer lines, storm water drains, parks, spaces for institutions and hospitals. If not developed by CMDA, there is a chance of unplanned developments with narrow roads.”

The scheme will cover Kuthambakkam, Palanjur, Kilmanambedu, Neduncheri, Vellavedu, Kavalcheri, Thirumazhisai, Parvatharajapuram, Kolappancheri, Varatharajapuram, Thukanampattu, Udayarkoil and Narasingapuram revenue villages. The proposed Loop Road will connect Chennai Outer Ring Road with the Bengaluru Highway (NH-48) through these villages.

As per the proposal, around 9.84% of 1,605.75 acres will be developed as road and 40.80% will become a residential zone. Around 19.07% and 16.10% will be developed as commercial and mixed-use zones respectively. Recreational zone will cover 9.86% land and 4.24% will be waterbodies.

“The land pooling schemes will benefit both land owners and buyers as against the private layouts where only promoters are benefited,” Mishra added.

It may be recalled that the CMDA has already issued notifications for the new town development to make Tirumazhisai as a city of economic clusters. As per the proposal, the city will be subdivided into clusters with a transport loop (interlinks connecting the clusters) with an 800-1,000-metre walking radius. The loop concept focuses on sustainable aspects in biodiversity, energy, water and waste, land use, socio-economic, and transport. Clusters are planned with multiple product mixes to reduce travel time and increase productivity.

The Tirumazhisai New Town proposal has been sent for a performance-based challenge being conducted by MoHUA (Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs) to win Rs 1,000 crore. Under the challenge, the Union government will select 8 cities across the country and provide Rs 1,000 crore each.

“Tirumazhisai has a potential to win the challenge and secure funding. Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) has 120 acres of land for housing development and a film city has been proposed. Moreover, a new bus stand is coming up in Kuthambakkam. These will help win the challenge,” he said.

Meanwhile, the planning authority has decided to release the draft land pooling scheme for Madambakkam, the State’s first land pooling scheme, within a week. “The draft will be released to allow the public to make objections or suggestions,” Mishra said.

In March 2024, the CMDA had issued a declaration of intent to implement the Madambakkam Land Pooling Area Development Scheme covering 600 acres. The scheme covers Madambakkam, Agaramthen and Kovilanchery villages.

In February, the government notified the Tamil Nadu Land Pooling Area Development Scheme Rules, 2024, even though the scheme was mooted 5 years ago. The State government revamped the provisions of The Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning (third amendment) Act, 2018, to implement Land Pooling Area Development Scheme.

The Land Pooling Rules specify stages of implementation under Section 39 of Town and Country Planning Act. Under the rules, the CMDA or other planning authority has to publish the preliminary scheme within 9 months after declaring the intention, after which two months would be given to the public and land owners to file objections or suggestions to the scheme.

As per the rules, the copy of the approved scheme would be sent to the registration and revenue departments for updating and mutation of revenue records. Within 9 months of announcing the preliminary scheme, a final proposal would be prepared, after which grievances or appeals would be heard in the next two months. The final scheme would be then published and the process of providing ownership certificates would begin.

Proposed zones in Tirumazhisai New Town

· Growth Corridor (Loop Road)

· Innovation, research and development clusters

· Knowledge and Innovation campuses

· High density corridor

· Transit nexus district

· Business district

· Waterfront development

· Cine-tech hub