Chief Minister M K Stalin reviewed the CMDA’s proposal to expand the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) which has been pending for a long time. The previous AIADMK government wanted to expand the CMA from 1,189 sq km to 8,878 sq km.
While the expansion of the Chennai Metropolitan Area as envisaged under the earlier plan would have made the city the second largest in the country, the new plan proposes the CMA to cover an area of 5,904 sq km.
According to sources, CMDA has suggested trifurcation of the metropolitan area, with the existing CMA being known as CMA Central and expanded areas being called CMA North and CMA South. The expanded areas would be covered under regional plans and not master plan, official sources said.
The Chennai Metropolitan Area North will consist of eight taluks covering an area of 2,908 sq km including Gummidipoondi, Ponneri, Uthukottai, Tirutanni (partly), Arakonnam (partly), Thiruvallur, Poonamallee (partly) and Sriperumbudur. The South CMA will consist of 1,809 sq km spread across seven taluks of Kancheepuram, Walajabad, Chengalpattu, Thirukalukundram, Thiruporur, Kundrathur (partly) and Vandalur (partly).