Chennai metropolitan area
Chennai metropolitan area or Greater Chennai is the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in India and the 35th most populous in the world. It consists of the core city of Chennai, which is coterminous with the Chennai district, and its suburbs in Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu, Thiruvallur and Ranipet districts.
The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority is the nodal agency that handles town planning and development within the metro area. In 1974, an area encompassing around the city was designated as the metropolitan area which was subsequently expanded to in 2022.
History
In 1974, the Madras metropolitan area comprised a total extent of. In 2011, first plans to expand the metropolitan area were proposed by Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority as several settlements on the outer vicinity had been undergoing rapid development and had to be incorporated under the CMDA planning strategy. While other metropolises in India had already redefined their respective metropolitan regions to include much larger areas, CMA had not been altered since it was first defined in 1974. In July 2012, the CMDA suggested two options to the Government of Tamil Nadu for expanding the area with the first option including the whole of the Chennai, seven taluks each from Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts extending up to and the second option including the whole of Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts and Arakkonam taluk extending to a total of. In July 2017, the Government of Tamil Nadu announced its intention to expand the CMA to with the whole process expected to be completed by July 2018.On 22 January 2018, Government of Tamil Nadu issued a Government order to declare the intention to include additional areas in the Chennai Metropolitan Planning Area under the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act, 1971. As per the act, the government is required to allow reasonable opportunity for inhabitants, local authorities and institutions in the area to comment upon or object to such an expansion proposals and few objections were received including a public interest litigation filed at the Madras High Court in March 2018. The plan was later modified and in October 2022, the metropolitan area was expanded to.
Distribution and composition
The metropolitan area consists of four municipal corporations, 12 municipalities and other smaller panchayats spread across the districts of Chennai, Thiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu and Ranipet. The planning and development is overseen by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, a Tamil Nadu State Government organisation in charge of town in the region. CMA is divided into three zones north, central and south.The State government had announced the formation of six satellite townships – Minjur covering 111 sq. kilometres, Thirumazhisai 34 sq. km., Chengalpattu 136 sq. km., Mamallapuram 123 sq. km., Kancheepuram 99 sq. km. and Tiruvallur 37 sq. km., through Government Orders issued in 2023.