The Tamil Nadu Government, no matter who is in power, is always on a spree of announcing world-class facility developments. They make very interesting reading when announced and then are forgotten. When finally implemented they are a mere shadow of what was promised and take so long that the original plan, its originators (proud fathers?) and timeline are forgotten. The latest is a 2000-acre global city to be developed at Madurantakam. The announcement was made in the State budget, and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation has sought bids for appointing a consultant.

We don’t want to sound negative but whoever it is that comes up with these plans will do well to consider that littered all around the city are failed instances of similar global cities, though they may have not been termed as such. Take for example the Maraimalai Nagar development. It was envisaged as a 172-acre satellite town and mooted in the First Master Plan for the city. It is still work-in-progress after so many decades and when you visit it, all you can see are plenty of half-hearted attempts at infrastructure building. Then there was Manali New Town, envisaged in the 1990s. It never took off. And now, as these are times of thinking big, we have a 2000-acre city planned.

The choice of location is outright shortsighted. The inspiration is no doubt the Gurgaon (sorry Gurugram) experience, planned as it was as a satellite to New Delhi. It has no doubt prospered but the cost has been immense. The urban agglomeration has brought with it several issues – built, cultural and natural. If the Madurantakam experiment is to go the same way, what we are likely to see are highways exploding at the seams with vehicular traffic. There will also be huge challenges of water.

The answer to that, no doubt, will be yet another desalination plant. But what is likely is that the waterbodies of Madurantakam, of which there are plenty, will be the first casualties. It should also be remembered that Vedanthangal, a precious bird sanctuary is right in the heart of this district and the impact of such development on it will be detrimental to say the least. We are not here dwelling on the loss of agricultural land as that is anyway already a lost cause. Much of Chengalpattu is viewed as prime housing but even that urbanization is likely to be slow and measured, unlike a wholesale development of 2,000 acres.

This latest announcement is also to be looked at from another context. The State Government, and its predecessors were no different, always seems to see any development as possible only around Chennai. You need to just see the plans – they are all in Kanchipuram, Tirumazhisai, Minjur, Mamallapuram and Tirvallur. When this KTCC (Kanchi Tiruvallur Chennai Chengalpattu) region is already such an ecological hotspot, why continue to build on or around it? Why not look at developments around Trichy, Madurai or Thoothukudi?

Trichy was once considered a site for a new capital but given up for political reasons, the logic of which belies belief. But maybe it was all to the good as the region is still predominantly agricultural and it would be a pity if all that went under concrete. But there are regions further south, in and around Pudukottai, Madurai and Thoothukudi, where the land is essentially barren. Surely these areas can be developed and that will help in making sure that urbanisation is uniform across the State and not restricted to certain pockets. The present plan for Madurantakam is nothing short of a long-term disaster that will only enrich the real estate lobby in the short term.