CHENNAI: After 10 years of deliberations over the expansion of the Chennai Metropolitan Planning Area (CMPA), the State government on Friday issued a Government Order (GO) specifying the inclusion of more than 1,000 villages in Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu and Ranipet districts into the CMA.
The GO, which was issued on Friday, however, did not specify how many km will be expanded. It merely said that a proposal by the CMDA member secretary for expansion of CMA, for inclusion of contiguous area under Clause 23-a of Section -II of Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act, 1971, has been accepted.
This comes after Chief Minister MK Stalin reviewed the proposal earlier this month to expand CMA from 1,189 sq km to 5,904 km. Under that, the expanded areas were to be covered under regional plans and not the master plan. It is learnt that CMDA has suggested dividing the entire CMA into three. The existing Chennai Metropolitan Area could be termed as CMA Central and the proposed expanded areas as CMA North and CMA South.
The Chennai Metropolitan Area North will consist of eight talukas, covering a distance of 2,908 sq km. These include Gummidipoondi, Ponneri, Uthukottai, Tirutanni (partly), Arakonnam (partly), Thiruvallur, Poonamallee (partly) and Sriperumbudur. Similarly, the South CMA will have 1,809 sq km and it will include seven talukas - Kancheepuram, Walajabad, Chengalpattu, Thirukalukundram, Thiruporur, Kundrathur (partly) and Vandalur (partly). While the existing Chennai Metropolitan Area of 1,189 sq km will be considered CMA Central.
Hyderabad Metropolitan Region, which was formed by combining four districts of Rangareddy, Mahboobnagar, Nalgonda and Medak has the largest area of 7,222 sq km under its jurisdiction. With the proposed expansion to 5,904km, Chennai would be the second largest city followed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority which has an area of 4,355 sq km.
S Sridharan, Chairman of the Urban Development/Affordable Housing Committee, Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India (CREDAI National) said with the expansion of CMA infrastructure funding will become easier. He also said it will result in organised growth.