CHENNAI: The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has decided to reclassify 21.76 acres of residential land at Pattinapakkam as commercial use to facilitate the proposed new Assembly and Secretariat complex.
The 1,380 residential quarters/flats built under the Tamil Nadu Government Servants Rental Housing Scheme and the TNHB Board Rental Flats were meant to be rebuilt to restore services, following the demolition of the dilapidated buildings after a long-drawn legal battle. CMDA's decision is set to change the land use of the site where the flats once stood forever.
The land, part of the 25.55-acre site identified for the project at Foreshore Estate, will be handed over to the Public Works Department (PWD) after the change in classification. "After the TNHB gave the NOC, we are working on reclassification. Once it is done, we are also taking steps to secure Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance," said a senior official from the authority.
The site comprises 21.76 acres under the possession of the Tamil Nadu Housing Board, 0.93 acres belonging to the Greater Chennai Corporation, 1.73 acres of Revenue Department land and 1.13 acres of Tamil Nadu Housing Board land under the possession of the State government.
The respective agencies and the district administration have already given their NOC for the project. Meanwhile, the proposal has drawn opposition from fishermen in Pattinapakkam, who claim the land was originally intended for the rehabilitation of fishing families. Concerns regarding their access to the area and livelihood, the implications for the coastal ecosystem, and the traffic bottleneck it could create have also been raised.