Kovai, Madurai urban agencies to get separate mobility cells

CHENNAI: The state housing and urban development already announced the formation of Coimbatore and Madurai urban development authorities in line with the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) to regulate urbanisation in those cities. Now, the government has decided to constitute separate mobility cells in the new authorities to coordinate transport-oriented growth.

According to an official attached to the department, the mobility cells will be part of the new urban development authorities and they will have mobility experts.

“In Chennai, we have Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) to monitor and coordinate mobility-based development. CUMTA is an independent body in Chennai, however mobility cells in Coimbatore and Madurai will be a part of the authorities,” he said.

Tiruchy, Hosur, Tirupur in pipeline

The official explained that Chennai requires an independent body as the population in the city is around one crore, on the other hand, Coimbatore and Madurai have lesser population thus they do not require separate bodies.

Meanwhile, the state government is in the process of constituting urban development authorities in Tiruchy, Hosur, Tirupur and other cities. Such cities too will have separate mobility cells.

“Orders will be issued for the formation of mobility cells. When and if the population of those cities grow, the government may form independent bodies like CUMTA,” he added.

It may be noted that the CMDA does not have a separate wing pertaining to transport and mobility. In order to coordinate with departments like Chennai Corporation, Metropolitan Transport Corporation, Highways Department, Southern Railway, Metrorail and others, the state government constituted CUMTA several years ago, but the authority remained defunct for more than 12 years.

Recently, the first meeting of CUMTA was held under Chief Minister MK Stalin.

A tender has been floated to digitize road data so that to prevent frequent digging of roads.

“The mobility cells of the new urban development authorities will also prepare mobility plans for their respective cities. They would also propose projects to make transportation easier in the cities,” the official said.