Chennai Corporation zones to expand to 22 after LB polls

According to a Corporation source, each of the 22 Assembly constituencies within the Corporation limits would become a separate zone. Presently, the Corporation has 15 zones, which would go up to 22 after the exercise.

“As of now, divisions of the same constituency fall under two or three zones. This makes the coordination between the elected representatives and zonal officials difficult. The decision has been mooted at the government level,” the source said.

For instance, Tiruvottiyur Assembly constituency falls under Tiruvottiyur and Manali zones, while Madhavaram constituency falls under Manali and Madhavaram zones. Similarly, T Nagar constituency falls under Teynampet and Kodambakkam zones.

The source added that the plan was to conduct the delimitation before the Corporation election, but they were instructed to conduct it after the elections for urban local bodies, including Chennai Corporation, which are likely in January.

The Corporation had earlier completed delimitation of divisions in December 2018, during which the boundaries of several divisions were modified based on the population rather than considering the size. During the drive, boundaries of 119 divisions were changed and division numbers were also changed. The boundaries of Madhavaram and Manali zones were changed by adding division 29 (new number22) to Manali from Madhavaram.

“The Corporation election will be conducted based on 2018 delimitation. We have already prepared electoral rolls, location of polling booths among other based on that,” the source said.

Division 189 in Sholinganallur zone is the largest in the city, spreading across 10.19 sqkm. The smallest division is 51 in Royapuram, which is only 0.40 sqkm.