CMA expanded adding 1,225 villages; GO issued

CHENNAI: Finally, the long pending proposal for expanding Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) has been realised as the state housing and urban development department has issued a government order to include as many as 1,225 villages under the purview of Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority.

As per the order dated October 21, as many as 15 taluks from Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu and Ranipet have been included. Some of the taluks that have been appended with the CMA are Arakkonam, Sriperumbudur, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Chengalpattu.

Anshul Mishra, member-secretary of the CMDA clarified that the expanded CMA will cover 5,904 sqkm. Presently, the Chennai Metropolitan Area covers only 1,189 sqkm.

The government order came within 15 after Chief Minister MK Stalin approved the proposal to expand the CMA at a meeting held at the Secretariat.

It may be recalled that the government initially proposed to expand CMA to cover 8,878 sqkm to cover some parts of Ranipet and Tiruvannamalai districts, several years ago. However, after several public consultation meetings with stakeholders, the proposal for expansion was reduced.

In 2018, the government issued an order seeking objections and suggestions from the residents and local bodies based on which stakeholders meetings were conducted concerning districts. Following this, an announcement was made in September 2021 in the Assembly regarding the expansion.

Even before the order to expand the CMA was released, the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) has also taken measures to update the comprehensive mobility plan (CMP) for the city to cover the expanded areas.

A housing department official said the local area plans will be prepared for the newly added areas as a third master is being prepared only for the existing 1,189 sqkm of CMA.

“The expansion will help in preserving natural resources of the expanded area as CMDA will ensure systematic development. This will also ensure a proper land use plan,” the official said.