The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Public consultation on proposed South Chennai Corporation held

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Tamil Nadu

Public consultation on proposed South Chennai Corporation held

Special Correspondent

Some elected representatives wanted their local bodies to be upgraded or kept out of proposed Corporation

A presentation on the salient features of the proposal was made and the residents were asked to express their opinion

— Photo: A. Muralitharan

AWAITING BETTERMENT: Residents scrutinising maps of the proposed South Chennai Corporation at the public consultation in Tambaram on Saturday.

TAMBARAM: The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) organised the first public consultation in Tambaram in connection with the proposed creation of two new Corporations in the city’s suburbs on Saturday.

Residents said that they hoped the creation of a South Chennai Corporation would significantly improve basic amenities. But, several elected representatives wanted their local bodies to be upgraded or kept out of the proposed Corporation.

A presentation on the salient features of the proposal was made first, after which the residents were given a chance to express their opinion. A few residents, while welcoming the proposal, said that publicity given to the public consultation was not sufficient.

Representatives of Lakshmi Nagar, Nanganallur, submitted that they did not want to be part of a Corporation with its headquarters in Tambaram and would prefer being amalgamated with the Chennai Corporation.

T.R. Krishnamurthy, a West Tambaram resident, sought to know whether the existing facilities would be improved before the southern suburbs were made a Corporation or improvements would follow after its creation. “Being elevated as a Corporation is not a guarantee to improved quality of life. Residents in Chennai suffer from several problems even now,” he said.

T.A. Veeramani, secretary, Federation of Residents’ Welfare Association of Madipakkam, said that Madipakkam had a population of about 50,000 and all the characteristics to be a municipality, but it continued to be a village panchayat. Including it in the proposed South Chennai Corporation would immensely benefit the residents.

Residents from some of the western suburbs including Porur, Kovur, and Manapakkam among others said that their localities were out of the radar of the State government agencies when it came to providing welfare works. If they were to be made part of the Corporation, they could look forward to a string of development works.

Councillors and politicians outnumbered the residents and activists at the meeting.

M.R. Sreenivasan, Chairman of Mangadu Town Panchayat, said that the cluster of villages around Mangadu could be amalgamated and a separate municipality created. Arvind Ramesh, Chairman of Sholinganallur Town Panchayat, said that his town should be made the seat of headquarters of the proposed South Chennai Corporation considering its importance on Rajiv Gandhi Salai (IT Corridor), else, it should be upgraded as a municipality. S. Sekar, Chairman of Perungalathur Town Panchayat, said that they preferred to be left as a separate urban local body as the quality of amenities was far better than other localities.

E. Mani, Tambaram Municipal Chairman, said that there should be no second thoughts about making Tambaram, the seat of headquarters of the proposed South Chennai Corporation. It was the most important road and rail head in the southern suburbs and Southern Railway had proposed to develop Tambaram as a coaching terminal. Pallavaram Municipal Chairman E. Karunanidhi, while pointing out that it was up to the State government and the CMDA to choose the headquarters, said that geographically, Pallavaram was the centre point and could be easily accessed by residents from all over the southern suburbs. Tambaram MLA S.R. Raja and Chairman of St. Thomas Mount Panchayat Union K. Elumalai also spoke.

Susan Mathew, vice-chairperson, CMDA, said that subsequent public consultations would be held on November 22 and 29 in Ambattur and Tiruvotriyur respectively. Residents could continue to submit their suggestions till December 21. The CMDA would consider holding similar meetings in other areas of the suburbs too, as sought by many of the speakers.

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