CHENNAI: In a move that will have a significant impact on local governance in 28 districts, Tamil Nadu’s municipal administration department has notified proposals for creating 13 new municipalities, extending the boundaries of 16 municipal corporations, merging village panchayats in 12 districts with 25 town panchayats, upgrading 25 village panchayats in 14 districts as town panchayats, and extending the boundaries of 41 municipalities.
The 16 corporations that will have their boundaries expanded are Greater Chennai, Coimbatore, Cuddalore, Dindigul, Erode, Karur, Hosur, Madurai, Salem, Tiruchy, Tiruppur, Avadi, Kumbakonam, Thanjavur, Thoothukudi, and Sivakasi.
The expansion will entail merging of four municipalities, five town panchayats, and 149 village panchayats with these corporations. The Greater Chennai Corporation will be extended by merging Adayalampattu and Vanagaram village panchayats in Tiruvallur district with the civic body.
Another 147 village panchayats and a town panchayat will be merged to expand 41 municipalities. Additionally, 13 new municipalities of Sankagiri, Kothagiri, Avinashi, Perundurai, Gavunthapadi, Polur, Chengam, Kanniyakumari, Harur, Sulur, Mohanur, Naravarikuppam and Veppampatu will be created.
Urban population in TN estimated to go up to 53%
Twenty-five village panchayats in 14 districts —Tiruppur, Thoothukudi, Namakkal, Erode, Coimbatore, Trichy, Tiruvallur, Pudukottai, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram, Mayiladuthurai and Salem — will also be upgraded into town panchayats. Twenty-nine more village panchayats in 12 districts will be merged with 25 town panchayats.
According to notifications, “Any person residing within the local area concerned about these notifications or any local authority affected by these notifications, may submit objections, if any, in writing to the municipal administration secretary within six weeks from the date of publication of this notification and these objections will be taken into consideration.”
The notifications said the term of office of the elected representatives in the village panchayats in 28 districts ends on January 5. Proposals have been received from the high-level committee on reorganisation of local bodies for merging many village panchayats in these districts, which have urban features, with the nearby corporations and municipalities, and creation of some municipalities by merging nearby towns and village panchayats.
Explaining the rationale for the proposal, the notifications said the urban population is estimated to go up to 53% of the total population of the state and it is considered essential to connect the areas adjacent to the corporations and municipalities with the nearby urban areas to provide necessary infrastructure.
Further, there have been continuous demands for conversion and upgrading of local bodies. The notifications said that through these measures it will be possible to integrate contiguous areas efficiently to achieve the objective of providing quality basic infrastructure to the people, carry out overall planning for infrastructure development in such a way that all resources for development are used in the right manner, and to regulate planned urban development.
The notifications further said to meet the challenges of urbanisation, the government is continuously taking steps for merging and upgrading rural local bodies into urban local bodies, depending on the nature of urbanisation of local bodies adjacent to urban areas. The government in a release said six corporations and 28 municipalities were formed in 2021. Similarly, in August 2024, four corporationswere created by merging nearby town panchayats and village panchayats.