Tamil Nadu

Draft masterplan ignores suburban areas: civic groups

TAMBARAM: Residents and activists at the final public consultative meeting on the draft second masterplan for urban local bodies in the southern suburbs of Chennai on Saturday raised a host of complaints with the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA).

Some of the common complaints raised by representatives of civic groups pertained to the failure of CMDA to invest the money collected from municipalities, town and village panchayats back in the local bodies for improvement works, its inability to draw a comprehensive scheme for overall development of the suburbs and refusal to acknowledge rural and urban local bodies as independent entities.

D.S. Sivasamy, president, Citizens Forum, Chromepet, the first to speak after a presentation by the officials, said CMDA seemed to have devoted its time and resources for developing facilities only in Chennai city.

“The masterplan seems to have completely ignored the suburban areas,” he said.

The pathetic condition of amenities relating to bus terminuses, lack of notified market areas, poor sanitation facilities and the absence of underground drainage network in most towns in the suburbs only reflected the amount of importance, or lack of it, the CMDA attached to development in this part of Chennai over the past three decades, he added. A former Additional Director of Municipal Administration, Mr. Sivasamy regretted that the amount collected by CMDA from local bodies in the form of development charges was hardly spent in these areas.

“CMDA gave its nod to massive apartment and commercial projects, without taking into consideration the infrastructure facilities in towns,” he said. Mr. Sivasamy added that under such circumstances, local bodies were strained and came under fire not providing adequate facilities to match the growth.

Perungalathur Town Panchayat councillor M. Soundararajan wondered how CMDA could permit IT parks from going ahead with construction of their buildings without getting its approval, while salaried class and poor people suffered to build their individual houses.

CMDA Chief Planner S. Santhanam said rules permitted IT companies to commence construction after their plan was sanctioned.

Members of civic groups from Chromepet, East Tambaram, Pallavaram, Adambakkam and Nanganallur took part. Pointing out to the poor turnout of residents and activists, they complained that the CMDA and local bodies should have given more publicity to Saturday’s event, considering that it was the last meeting. .

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