The Hindu 24.09.2009
Decision on Chennai Corporation proposal soon
Special Correspondent
CHENNAI: A decision on whether Chennai will remain a single Corporation with extended areas that fall under the Chennai Metropolitan Area or it will be trifurcated is to be taken shortly with Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi making queries on the one Corporation proposal at a presentation here on Wednesday.
Officials made a presentation on the two proposals the committee that examined the issue had considered – whether to bring into the purview of the current Chennai Corporation areas up to Tambaram in the south and Avadi in the north-west consonant with the Chennai planning agency’s boundaries for the Metropolitan Area or to carve out separate Corporations and bringing Ambattur municipality under the ambit of Chennai Corporation in the event of forming two more Corporations.
As Chennai is bursting at the seams and nearby municipalities are finding it difficult to cope with the explosive migratory populations that have been flocking to the suburbs, the government initially thought of creating two Corporations in the suburbs, one headquartered at Avadi and another at Tambaram. But the other proposal has been gaining ground of late. This is because it was pointed out that the Chennai Corporation was not even half the size of the metropolitan cities in the country such as New Delhi and Mumbai and hence, there was scope for growth of the present Corporation itself.
The issue of incremental growth of the city also came in for discussion. The examples citied were the annexation of parts of Mogappair and Kolathur to the Chennai Corporation recently as opposed to a drastic redrawing of boundaries that could lead to some confusion for residents.
