MADURAI: The state government’s decision to constitute urban development authorities in Madurai, Coimbatore, Tiruppur and Hosur, on the lines of Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), offers hope for orderly development of the cities and solution to the demands of residents pending for decades. The announcement on forming the authorities was made during the revised budget speech for 2021-22 in the assembly. Orders have already been issued for setting up the authority in Madurai, Coimbatore and Tiruppur cities.
According to Madurai Corporation Commissioner KP Karthikeyan, an urban development authority for Madurai can help expedite approval for building plans. “Local bodies face certain restrictions in approving plans. For projects that are beyond our ambit, the approval has to come from the Directorate of Town and Country Planning, and the Commissionerate of Municipal Administration in Chennai,” he said.
The city corporation can give plan approval for projects of less than 10,000sqft. For bigger projects, the proposal must be sent to Chennai for approval. The outdated city master plan was also an issue. The new authority, which has been constituted as an ad hoc entity for now, will help chalk out a new master plan for the regulated growth of the city.
Welcoming the decision, Madurai MP Su Venkatesan said, “It has been over three decades since land use classification was last revised. Most of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Madurai are located in residential areas. The process of getting the land reclassified from residential to industrial use is difficult for small traders. It also paves way for corruption. A development authority for Madurai would be a good starting point for planned development,” he said.
Tiruppur is one of the fastest growing cities in TN, thanks to its rapidly growing population and labour-intensive export industry. Exporters Association (TEA) president Raja M Shanmugam told TNIE. “An exclusive authority to deal with housing and commercial growth is the need of the hour. The development body will help speed up approvals for real estate development. The authority will also help create a land pool for commercial and business development. We thank the State government for accepting our demand,” he added.
According to a Tiruppur district official, “The proposed body will work with the Local Planning Authority (LPA) to resolve housing crisis by expediting nod for plots. The Tiruppur city limit may also expand by 15sqkm and 10 more wards could be added to its limits.”
The last master plan for Hosur town, for which a G.O. to create the new authority is expected to be issued within a week, was drafted in 1984. Environmentalist A Lakshmanan of the town says the development body may help resolve many of Hosur’s problems. For instance, there is no public hall in Hosur corporation limits as most of the land has been occupied.
Traffic snarls have become unbearable, and roads can’t be widened as shops and houses line the roads.” Coimbatore District Small Scale Industries Association (CODISSIA) president MV Ramesh Babu said the new entity, which is expected to function along the lines of the CMDA, will enable infrastructure development.
Inputs from: S Sivaguru (Krishnagiri), Saravanan MP (Tiruppur) and Deepak Sathish (Coimbatore)