CHENNAI: Eight years after denotifying 852 acres of prime land, which were initially acquired for airport expansion at Manapakkam, Gerugambakkam, Kolapakkam, Kovur, and Tharapakkam, the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has agreed to provide a land use plan as per the First Master Plan, which was approved in 1976.
The land, acquired in 2007, was not put to use for a parallel runway as the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in 2011 dropped the plan saying there would be no significant improvement in aircraft movement due to the long taxiing time involved. However, it was not denotified. The denotification happened after a Madras High Court order in 2014 but a land use plan was not assigned and the prime land was not put to commercial use.
EVP Township Plot Owners Association secretary S Somasekaran told TNIE the land use plan was assigned on Friday, providing much relief. “But certain areas have been marked as waterbodies, and we have made a representation to CMDA,” he added.Recalling how plot owners suffered in the last 15 years due to the legal battle, Somasekaran said, “Pensioners who invested their money could not enjoy the land and many passed away while waiting for the land use plan to be assigned.
The land acquired in 2007 was not reclassified though it wasn’t put to use for a parallel runway as AAI in 2011 put the CMDA member secretary in the dock after the Madras High Court ordered for a bailable warrant for not complying with a court order, recalls Somasekaran. He and other plot owners have been approaching the court to assign land use for the land parcels denotified in 2014.
It is learnt that CMDA didn’t prepare the land-use plan due to the floods in 2015. Sources said after the floods, the Public Works Department planed to create a buffer zone of up to 500 m between the Adyar River and habitations on the land parcel to avoid flooding. Following this, CMDA roped in the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras’s Centre for Urbanisation, Buildings and Environment (CUBE) to conduct a study on developing the 852 acres of prime land.
But the CUBE report was not considered during the authority’s meeting, sources said, adding, “If accepted, the recommendation will be incorporated in the Third Master Plan, which is likely to come after the Second Master Plan lapses in 2026.”However, with the First Master Plan land use assigned to the 852 acres, the problem would be for developers who will now have to approach CMDA for reclassification of land to build residential apartments.