Chennai: Ahead of his tour of the United States seeking industrial and business investments into the State, Chief Minister M K Stalin inaugurated a slew of schemes worth Rs 5.22 crore and laid the foundation for new plan schemes that would cost Rs 115.58 crore under the North Chennai Development Plan on Monday.
All the schemes, undertaken by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, were aimed to benefit the people of north Chennai and among them were an ornamental fish trade centre worth Rs 115.58 crore at Kolathur, a community centre, a modern laundry and development of the Puzhal, Retteri and Kolathur lake bunds.
The North Chennai Development Plan was launched with an allocation of Rs 1000 crore that would be spent in the next three years to address deficiencies in infrastructure and identify flaws in growth development indices following an announcement in the State Budget for 2023-24, an official press release said.
The ornamental fish trade centre would come up on a 3.93 acre land below the Padi flyover in Villivakkam with a total of 188 outlets that include eateries, fish breeding structures, parking facilities and other shops and offices.
The community centre at Royapuram’s Moolakothalam will have three floors spread over 41,593 square feet space in a building that would be constructed at a cost of Rs 14.31 crore on a 0.67 acre land, while the modern laundry at Conron Smith Road will come up on a 1.04 acre land at a cost of Rs 11.43 crore with 45,196 square feet of floor space. The Rs 16.96 crore development of the bunds of the Puzhal lake will see the construction of a pathway, landscaping, Miyawaki forest, children’s museum, artificial pond and other facilities for the common people and Rs 13.12 crore will be spent on the Reteri bund that will have an auditorium at the entrance, bridges artificial garden, park, solar powered shady seating places, gyms, vehicle parking space and so on.
Boat riding facility, Children’s Park, artificial waterfalls, musical park and dazzling electrical statues will be among the attractions at the Kolathur bund that will be developed on 0.4 acre of land at a cost of Rs 6.26 crore. The development schemes that were launched after completion of work included an office building for the Food and Consumer Protection Department at Kolathur, three ration shops, a modern laundry, and a taluk office.
The Chief Minister is taking a late night Emirates flight on Tuesday to Dubai, from where he will fly to San Francisco to begin his tour of the United States.
