CHENNAI: The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) will be holding its authority meeting after eight months on Thursday, the first after the new government assumed charge in the State.
While there is a veil of secrecy on the agenda of the meeting, the focus is on whether the DMK government will adhere to the Town and Country Planning Act, 1971 while conducting the first authority meeting or will simply follow the AIADMK government in ignoring it.
As per the Act, the authority meeting should have representation of two members of the State Legislature and a member representing trade and industry in the Chennai Metropolitan Planning Area (CMPA). However, over the last 10 years, the authority has been run without representation of Legislature members and trade.
Also, as per the Act, if there is only one local authority functioning in the CMPA, two representatives nominated by the local authority should participate in the meeting. Similarly, if there are two or more local authorities functioning in the CMPA, persons who are members of such local authorities, not exceeding four in number, should be appointed by the government to take part in the meeting. But unfortunately, even this was not followed.
Association of Professional Town Planners (APTP) president KM Sadanand says the authority has been under-represented and used to meet only for selective decisions to get approvals. “The new government should look seriously look into the matter. The authority meeting should be participatory. Some efficient members among MLAs should be appointed to ensure transparency, besides providing input and playing a role in decision-making. The authority should periodically meet once in three months,” he said.
KP Subramanian, a former professor of urban engineering at Anna University, wants the State to consider appointing an authority chairman from Chennai. “The chairman of CMDA should have a vision for the future development of the city. That’s possible only if they have a knowledge about the socio-economic and cultural character of the people, their aspirations, expectations, lifestyle and land-use characteristics. People’s representatives are the medium through which people could reach out to decision-makers and effectively convey not only their problems but also solutions,” he said.
Will the ruling party adhere to the Act?
The focus is on whether the DMK government will adhere to the Town and Country Planning Act, 1971, or will it follow the AIADMK government in ignoring it. As per the Act, the meeting should have two members of the State Legislature, which has not been followed for over 10 years