New, “violation free” model towns are proposed near Vandalur, Madurai, Coimbatore and Trichy and an independent planning authority, on the lines of CMDA, is under discussion, for Coimbatore, Madurai and Trichy, minister for housing and urban development S Muthusamy tells Yogesh Kabirdoss in an interview.
Excerpts.
What is your vision for your department for the next five years?The chief minister has underscored that there should be easy access and no delay for the common man in accessing government services and schemes.
This will be the prime focus.
The schemes will be inclusive benefiting persons with disabilities and transgenders.
Will the government establish more satellite towns around Chennai?The department will examine possibilities of establishing ‘new model towns’ near Vandalur on the outskirts of Chennai, Coimbatore, Trichy and Tirunelveli.
They will be planned townships, wherein reclassification of plots will not be allowed.
An individual buying a residential plot cannot use it for commercial or institutional purposes.
There would be sectors earmarked for commercial structures, residences and schools.
Property owners must stick to the sanctioned building approval plan that cannot be violated at any point of time.
The responsibility of monitoring such violations would be on the Resident Welfare Association of the New Model Towns.
It is on the lines of self-disciplined villages that govern themselves.
Anna Nagar and Kalaignar Karunanidhi Nagar are landmark areas in Chennai.
If you take Anna Nagar, traffic is a major problem.
Against this backdrop, the New Model Towns will have wider roads keeping in view of addressing the traffic problems in the coming years.
We will take inputs from Resident Welfare Associations in Anna Nagar and Besant Nagar.
We are looking at New Model Towns as a joint development, but yet to decide on the government agency that will implement it.
Will independent planning authorities be set up for Coimbatore, Madurai and Trichy?Some discussions for constituting planning authorities for Coimbatore, Madurai and Trichy on the lines of CMDA in Chennai have already happened in the past.
Now, we will explore the feasibility of how to take it forward.A study on setting up an Auto Nagar in the truck hub at Perundurai, Sankagiri, Salem, Tiruchengode and Namakkal would be taken up.
There have always been complaints over delay in issuing planning permissions.
The chief minister is particular there should not be any violations and delays in issuing planning permissions.
Steps would be taken to issue planning permissions within a maximum deadline of 60 days because any delay in issuing planning permissions in turn pushes the construction cost that the homebuyer has to bear.
An online single window system will also speed up the process.
What about the third master plan for CMDA and expanding the Chennai Metropolitan Area?Work to prepare the third master plan for CMDA would be speeded up.
We need to analyse various issues pertaining to expansion of the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) and elicit views of the public.
There are five new projects under consideration for the CMA and we are studying the feasibility for their implementation.