Anbumani seeks white paper on CMDA ‘crisis’

PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Saturday demanded that the Tamil Nadu government release a white paper on the financial position and functioning of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), alleging that the planning authority had been pushed into a financial crisis and was unable to meet even salary payments without government assistance.

In a statement, Dr. Anbumani referred to reports that the CMDA had sought ₹200 crore from the State government to pay salaries and meet immediate expenses. He said the government should explain how an organisation that had functioned as a financially self-sustaining body since its establishment in 1972 had reached such a state.

He alleged that the CMDA’s financial position had deteriorated after it was made to undertake infrastructure projects instead of focusing on its core function of granting planning permissions.

While Chennai required major infrastructure development, Dr. Anbumani said such works should have been carried out by the State government and the Greater Chennai Corporation, not the CMDA. He further alleged that infrastructure contracts awarded through the CMDA during the previous DMK government involved irregularities.