Express news service

CHENNAI: Rethinking which area should fall under the Greater Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA), the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority plans to hold a public consultation this month in Arakkonam and Chengalpattu.

“Changes, if any, will only be made after public consultation,” a senior government official said. Initially, the previous government planned to expand the CMA from 1,189 km² to 8,878 km². The expansion envisioned in the previous plan could make Chennai the second largest city in India.

However, experts have reservations. “The government must justify the need for the expansion by instituting an independent and impartial study,” said former Anna University urban engineering professor KP Subramanian.

“CMDA has not been able to fulfill many of its legal and administrative obligations, even on the existing 1,189 km². These include a review of the master plan once every five years, the implementation of a detailed development plan, the development of new towns and urban nodes as planned. in the first master plan and check for widespread violations of development regulations, ”said the former professor.

Interestingly, the CMDA recently released a third master plan for the Chennai metropolitan area. While the new master plan would have nature-based solutions to counter conventional infrastructure practices by exploiting the blue and green elements, officials say they have yet to decide whether to go with the master plan or the regional plan.

“If the government does well to focus on developing regional plans for the 12 recently notified regions, it would allow balanced development by favoring secondary cities and minimizing disparities between different regions of the state. It would also improve the quality of life in cities, ”explains the former professor.

While officials argue there is a need to expand the city limits to regulate haphazard growth, experts argue it could impact farmland in Kanchipuram and Thiruvallur. “Chennai has invaded due to migration, resulting in squatter settlements, housing shortages, water shortages, traffic jams and pollution. This has resulted in recurrent flooding, ecosystem disruption and loss of biodiversity. The proposed expansion of CMA would worsen the situation with dire implications, ”says Subramanian.