Public hearing on CMA expansion to be held on November 25

The Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) expansion is only a few steps away as the government has decided to conduct a public hearing on the proposal on November 25.

According to a government notice, the meeting will be conducted in Government Medical College Hospital in Chengalpattu at 3 pm. “Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has made arrangements to conduct a public hearing to obtain opinions from the general public, elected representatives, NGOs, trade and business enterprises,” the notice read.

The DMK government, after coming to power, had announced on September 1, the plan to expand the CMA, on the floor of the Assembly. In 2018, the AIADMK government had also issued a notification, but the proposal was shelved due to opposition from residents and the outbreak of the pandemic. The proposal was to expand the metropolitan area to cover 8,878 sqkm from the present 1,189 sqkm.

“We have been told to exclude some of the areas that were mooted to be appended with the CMA during the previous government. The new contours will be smaller than the earlier proposed boundaries,” a CMDA official said, adding that the bigger Chennai Metropolitan Area is difficult to administer owing to which it has been decided that the area will be reduced.

As per the earlier CMA expansion proposal, all of Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur districts, as well as Arakkonam taluk in Ranipet district, would have become parts of the new CMA and Chennai would have become the second largest metropolitan area in the country after NCR (National Capital Region).

The official opined that the expansion of CMA is necessary as it would ensure uniform development and regulate the land use pattern.

As per the earlier proposal, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur as well as Arakkonam taluk in Ranipet district, would have become parts of the new CMA