Expansion plan would make Chennai as the second biggest in size after NCR
Posted on: 23/Nov/2018 10:22:28 AM
Chennai is a big metropolitan city with huge population is well known. The news is if the plan to expand the Chennai city takes of then the city of Chennai would become 2nd largest in terms of geographical size and only next to NCR. This was according to the findings of the study that was released on Thursday, 22nd November 2018.
It is amazing to mention that the metropolitan area of the city would grow 7 fold to 8878 sq km. This would be due to the fact that the whole of Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and parts of Arakkonam and Nemili taluks present in Vellore district would be included in the limits. It is clear that a total of 1709 villages would be added to the CMA or Chennai metropolitan Area. It is believed that the proposed move to expand the boundaries of Chennai might be fantastic but not much would change on the ground. The CMDA plan area would expand to all of Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur plus parts of Vellore and Arakkonam.
The important point to note here is if the expansion is planned and executed well then it could lead to uniform development of the entire region and that would be superb for many. This was as per the study that was brought out by MIPR or Mylapore Institute of Policy Research promoted jointly by India Cements Ltd and Delhi based start-up How India Lives.
Many senior citizens and others living in Chennai would not have forgotten that in the year 1975 Chennai Metropolitan Area or CMA grew from 426 sq km size to 1189 sq km. It was more than fourfold increase in the area of Chennai as the neighboring areas of Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts were merged together. As per the study it is confirmed that if the proposed expansion of Chennai city limits takes off then NCR would only be bigger than the southern metropolis and the total area would be 53,817 sq km. At present Chennai has got area of 1189 sq km, Mumbai has got area of 4354 sq km, Hyderabad has got area of 7100 sq km and Bengaluru has 8005 sq km is known. One important point is expansion would ensure that development takes place in a planned manner. The living standard of the people in the region would be improved greatly.
According to the reports it is clear that in the month of July in 2017, government of TN announced a plan to convert Chennai to a mega city and after few months government notified the plan. Mr. Shivkumar, president of MIPR, spoke about the need to access the potential impact with the TN government expanding the metropolitan area to include Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and parts of Vellore. Mr. John Samuel Raja, who is the co-promoter and director of How India lives, spoke about the report that was compiled after many interviews with administrators, industrialists, planning expert etc. The report also added that implementation of the expansion plan would ensure uniform development of the entire region, steady investment flow and availability of basic infrastructure etc.
Secretary, MIPR, Mr. Balasubramanian expressed his opinion and said recommendations of MIPR are aimed at making Greater Chennai truly work generate employment, nurture environment, provide good quality housing, create efficient transport network etc. The Chennai population is now 4.68 million and by this proposed expansion the population would increase to 11.8 million according to the census taken in 2011. The resources in the Chennai city h have been damaged due to shifting of more people in search of jobs etc. The good news is government plans to reduce the pressure on Chennai city by developing much wider area in a planned and uniform way.
