People living in areas to be added to Chennai are hopeful that expansion of Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) will transform their villages, increase land value and improve basic infrastructure and services. However, this may also make housing unaffordable.

On the contrary, those living within the existing Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) limits are concerned about the ability of authorities to manage such large-scale expansion in an organised manner, says a report by city-based Mylapore Institute for Policy Research (MIPR), an urban policy think tank supported India Cements.

In 1975, the CMA grew more than four-fold to 1,189 sq km as parts of Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur districts were added to it. Now, it will grow seven-fold to 8,878 sq km as the whole of Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur, and parts of Arakkonam and Nemilli taluks in Vellore district will be absorbed into the metropolitan area. A total of 1,709 villages will be added to Chennai.

Chennai district’s current population is 4.68 million, making it the sixth most populous city in India. The proposed expansion of the city’s boundaries will see the population rise to 11.8 million, going by 2011 Census data. The steady stream of people migrating to the city has taken a heavy toll on the city’s resources. By expanding the city’s limits, the State government is now hoping to reduce this pressure on the city by developing a much wider area, in a planned and uniform manner.

The MIPR commissioned the Delhi-based How India Lives to conduct detailed on site interviews to obtain feedback from various stakeholders to identify areas of concern and analyse potential impact on delivery of essential services like water, power, road, drainage and street lighting.

Contrary to popular perception that the boundary of Chennai Corporation itself will expand from the current limit, the proposed expansion of the CMA will only mean the plan area of the CMDA expands. All other aspects, such as the jurisdiction of urban local bodies, will remain the same, said the report.

For Chennai to become India’s second largest city and manage the seven-fold expansion in the CMA, the report provided ten recommendations, including reorganising Chennai’s geographical boundaries; strengthening role of the mayor and making citizens manage resources; invest in technical staff; get government agencies to talk to each other co-ordination needs to be improved. Consider transport: there is no single authority to manage the transport needs of the city.

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