Chennai Metropolitan Area or CMA to expand 5 times - Whats latest?
Posted on: 27/Jan/2023 9:37:09 AM
It has been 3 months since the Housing and Urban Development Department had issued an govt order or GO regarding the expansion of Chennai Metropolitan Area or CMA by around 5 times. Till now, the order has not been realised by merging the new areas in the city. It must be noted that the delay has been due to restructuring of human resources by the CMDA or Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority.
All the local bodies to be merged with CMA would have to pass resolutions in respective councils giving consent to merger. This was explained by a senior officer belonging to CMDA. He added that once the local bodies send resolutions then CMDA would send them to the TN govt for getting approval. Recently, two local bodies gave their approval and the resolutions were sent to the government. To merge the new areas officially, another GO would be issued by the TN govt.
In October 2022, the GO that was issued was to allow CMDA to start the process to implement the merger. For ensuring smooth transition of power, apart from the consent of the local bodies the planning authority must discuss with the DTCP or directorate of country planning. Now, the town planning aspects in the new areas have been managed by DTCP.
Managing manpower has been a problem too. In the local planning areas, DTCP already has manpower and discussions have been going on regarding absorbing the already available manpower from DTCP or to appoint new staff. It must be noted that this process would take a few more months.
There is still no clarity regarding whether to segregate CMA into several zones much like the Chennai Corporation or not. This was brought out by the senior officer from CMDA. For the expanded CMA, the management set-up hasn`t been decided by the CMDA still.
