The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) will soon kick-start preparatory work for third masterplan for the 1,189-sqkm area state capital whose contours extend into the hinterlands of neighboring Chengalpet, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts.
The second masterplan is valid till end of 2026, and work on the new plan will commence after the lockdown.
According to housing and urban development department sources, the World Bank has granted funds for the purpose a month ago.
Consultants will be appointed for preparatory work that would look into population density and climate resilience with focus on housing requirement for the next 20 years till 2046.
Masterplan is a statutory broad-based plan prepared for a city and its neighbourhood incorporating infrastructure projects and land-use map to earmark institutional, industrial and residential areas that should be created in tandem with population growth.
For instance, Inner Ring Road (Jawaharlal Nehru Road), Intermediate Ring Road (Chennai Bypass Road) and Outer Ring Road linking Vandalur and Minjur, MRTS and developing mofussil bus terminus and wholesale markets at Koyambedu as an alternative to Kothawalchavadi market were all conceived as part of the two masterplans in 1976 and 2008.
“The third masterplan may explore expanding metro train connectivity and identifying new satellite towns to decongest the city,” said a former CMDA official who was associated with preparation of the second masterplan.
Meanwhile urban development experts stressed that the new masterplan must have strategies for flood prevention and infrastructure facilities for migrant labours.
“The way forward for the third masterplan may be a radical departure from the conventional concept to focus more on public services such as transportation, water supply, sewerage system and storm water drain,” a retired professor of urban engineering at Anna University K P Subramanian said.
