The latest census figures reveal that the population density of Chennai has touched an all-time high and it ranks close to that of New Delhi. This is a wake-up call for the government of Tamil Nadu to undertake some serious long-term urban planning. In terms of urban dwelling density, New Delhi, with 29,463 dwellers per sq km, stands first, followed by Chennai at 26,093 dwellers. When compared to other large metropolitan cities like Mumbai and Kolkata, which have 20,000 to 24,000 people living per sq km, respectively, the density of smaller-sized Chennai is alarmingly high. Chennai registered a 13.30% jump in urban population at 46.80 lakh people as per the recent census.
While the population has been steadily going up, the city has never expanded its boundary in the last 30 to 35 years, which stands at 173 sq km. According to a political observer, the expansion of the city has always been mired in parochial political considerations. The expansion of Chennai from 173 sq km to approximate 436 sq km, including the peri-urban suburbs like Ambattur, Tambaram and Tiruvottiyur, should have been accomplished during the previous DMK regime.
The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), an ally of the DMK, opposed the suburb merger plan, arguing that local body representative numbers would drastically get reduced from 800 to 200, with nearly 600 local body corporator positions being abolished if the city is widened by merging the adjoining areas with Chennai. Responding to the plea of its ally, the DMK deferred the delimitation with the setting up of a committee to review the process, apparently losing time and tenure in implementing the expansion plan. Ranganayakalu, the former planner of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), says that city planning has been a joke in the hands of political leadership that has no long-term development vision for the city.
CMDA, an apex planning body set up by the government, is vested with the mandate of conceiving long-term development plans for Chennai, including development regulation of residential layouts and commercial layouts. Ranganayakalu adds: ?Having closely worked with the various state governments of Tamil Nadu, the firm conviction I could reach is that our political leadership is only concerned about politically popular projects that are possible during their 5-year ruling period. We have witnessed many project casualties due to the myopic approach of the government in city planning. The Dravidian parties, both when they are in the opposition or when they are ruling, have just sparred to veto each other?s policies on urban planning, not taking into consideration the city?s welfare. A case in point is the Kotturpuram housing board layout, close to the Adyar river, opposed vehemently by CMDA, which the government of the day went ahead and pursued. During hyper monsoon years, flash floods ravage the layout, marooning the residents. As per development control rules, no housing activity should be allowed so close to a water body. Now the people there are paying the price for political ad hocism.?
The former city planner recounts bitter memories of his service days as the urban planner with the government. Each and every urban project is subject to partisan political reviews with parties snooping around for scams and scandals rather than deciding on what is good for the public. The entire city expansion plan should be devoid of political wrangling, leaving the job to be done by experts, he says.
K Ramadoss, North Chennai district president of ExNoRa that fights for better urban amenities, wants special attention on North Chennai development. ?North Chennai infrastructure, built during the colonial days, has not been upgraded at all. The population has exploded and services like water, sewerage and garbage management have not been scaled up to the current population levels, similar to what is seen in South Chennai. And non-functioning of sewerage pumping stations has led to sewerage outfall into water bodies, causing pollution and contamination.
MG Devasahayam, a former civil servant and founder-trustee of the citizen alliance for sustainable development, makes a doomsday prediction on the haphazard expansion of the city. ?The government of the day is neither willing to listen to the bureaucrats nor to the non-government expert civic groups. On the one hand, the population of the city is increasing by leaps and bounds and, on the other, the city is struggling hard to meet the needs of the growing numbers. The panchayat and local body elected members do not enjoy a great degree of power in policy decisions.? Devasahayam adds that the city mayor himself is a mere handmaiden to the entire urban administration of the city. He also claims that Tamil Nadu is one notorious state in the country where true devolution of power has not happened from state legislative to local bodies. The state has not fully empowered the Panchayati Raj Institutions as per the spirit of the 73rd and 74th amendments of the Constitution. There is no decentralised planning which would involve the devolving of financial and administrative powers to cities, towns, village panchayats etc at the grass root level.
Sounding an optimistic note, Chennai Mayor M Subramanian, who comes from the DMK, says that city expansion would greatly reduce population density. ?There are about 9 municipalities, 8 town panchayats and 25 village panchayats that are set to merge with Chennai. The DMK, when in power, had submitted a R3,871 crore proposal to upgrade the facilities in the expanded city. If our government had been at the helm, we would have covered greater Chennai with metro rail having a 300-km radius providing rail connectivity to all the newly annexed areas,? he says. Will the new regime take Chennai development seriously?