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Resurrected Chengalpet is now a satellite district

Chennai: The suburbs of the city south of the airport and along the IT corridor of Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) and scenic East Coast Road to Mamallapuram will now come under resurrected Chengalpet district. Chengalpet was a district headquarters for 180 years before it came under Kancheepuram in 1968. Fifty years on, the state government has redrawn the boundaries again.

More than 50% of the district will be urbanised villages that extend for a distance of 85 kilometres between Pallavaram and Athur toll plaza. About 60% of undivided Kancheepuram will be part of Chengalpet.

A notification issued on Wednesday said Chengalpet will have three sub-divisions — Chengalpet, Maduranthakam and Tambaram — comprising eight taluks including Cheyyur, Thirukalukundram, Pallavaram and Thiruporur. A new taluk based at Vandalur has also been created.

So far, people in the southern suburbs beyond Tambaram had to visit Chengalpet taluk office, travelling 25 km and about 70 km to the district headquarters of Kancheepuram.

As the move comes at a time when Tamil Nadu is gearing up for local body elections, residents are looking for better infrastructure. Harsha Koda, Federation of OMR Residents Associations, said that about 20 km of OMR falls under the new Chengalpet district. "The district administration must convert the portion into a showcase for civic infrastructure," he said.

The new district is blessed with huge tourism potential at Mamallapuram and along ECR and the hospitality industry is upbeat. “Ferry services and cruise should be introduced on ECR as the locality has a great potential in tourism,” said Tamil Nadu Tour Travel and Hospitality Association president V K T Balan. Mamallapuram is set for a major makeover to cash in on the interest evoked by the Modi-Xi summit in October.

Realtors also expect land prices to go up as civic infrastructure will improve as the administrative unit covers a small area. The Kilambakkam bus terminus is coming up in the district and the search for a site for a second airport to serve Chennai is also concentrated in Chengalpet district.

The site for a new collectorate, combined court complex and office for the district superintendent of police has not yet been finalised. Temporarily, they will function out of existing British-era government buildings in Chengalpet town.

Revenue department sources said government employees working in various departments in undivided Kanceepuram had been asked to choose which district they wanted to work in, Kancheepuram or Chengalpet.

Chengalpet was one of the first districts constituted during the British regime, in 1788. However, the administrative offices were in Chennai, at Saidpet. They remained there till 1968, when the district came under Kancheepuram district. So this will be the first time the Chengalpet collectorate will actually be in the district.

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