Tambaram City Municipal Corporation (Tamil: தாம்பரம் மாநகராட்சி) is the civic body administering suburban neighborhoods located south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It covers an area of 87.64 sq. km and has an estimated 2021 population of 960,887. It is declared as Special Grade Municipal Corporation in Category B as per G.O. dated 20th October 2022.
It is one of the three municipal corporations located within the Chennai Metropolitan Area, the other two being the Greater Chennai Corporation and Avadi Corporation. Tambaram is the 20th civic body to become a municipal corporation in Tamil Nadu.
Etymology
Tambaram is an medieval town referred to as Taamapuram in an inscription of the 13th century. The word was inscribed on the walls around the sanctum sanctorum at Marundeeswarar temple in Tirukachur village, near Chengalpattu.
History
The earliest mention of Tambaram dates back to the 13th century when the word ‘Taamapuram’ was inscribed on the walls around the sanctum sanctorum at Marundeeswarar temple in Tirukachur village, near Chengalpattu.
Old Stone Age
The oldest locality in Tambaram City is Pallavapuram which is considered one of the oldest inhabited places in South Asia. Pallavapuram is most commonly known as Pallavaram.
On May 13, 1863, Robert Bruce Foote, a British geologist with the Geological Survey of India (GSI), discovered a hand axe belonging to the Lower Palaeolithic Age at Pallavaram (Pallavapuram). Since then, several Stone Age artefacts have been discovered. Most of these artefacts are currently lodged in the Egmore museum.
Early Medieval Period
Pallava Dynasty
The oldest locality in the city, Pallavapuram, existed during the reign of Pallava king Mahendravarman I (that is, 600–630 CE). The Pallavas have left titles in early Pallava script at the cave temple in Pallavaram neighbourhood which dates back to 600 CE. The remains of a cave shrine constructed by the Pallava ruler have been found at Asthana-E-Moula Ali Dargah.
Chola Dynasty
During the reign of Later Cholas, from 9th to 12th century CE, the region was called Churathur Nadu. Churathur Nadu was named after Thiruchuram, the present-day Trisulam.The Churathur Nadu extended from Tambaram in the south to Adambakkam and Alandur in the north. The region included the City neighbourhood— Pammal, Pallavaram, and Thiruneermalai.
Colonial Period
During the Carnatic wars in the late 17th century, Tambaram was an entrenchment camp for the British East India Company. During the 17th century, Pallavaram remained dependent upon the Portuguese colony of San Thome. DLater, the British established a cantonment at Pallavaram, supplementary to the one at St. Thomas Mount.
A wireless station was established in the early years of the 20th century. The Madras Aerodrome was opened at Pallavaram in 1929.
Post-Independence
Prior to 1964, Tambaram was a small panchayat. In 1964, it was constituted as a Grade III Municipality comprising the Village Panchayats of Pulikoradu, Kadapperi, Tambaram, Irumbliyur, and Selaiyur.
Due to rapid development and growth of the town commercially and residentially, the Municipality was classified as a ‘Selection Grade Municipality’. The extent of the municipality was 20.72 km2. The revenue villages under this municipality are Pulikoradu, Kadapperi, Tambaram, Irumbliyur, and Selaiyur. The number of households is 26,333, the number of notified slums is 17 and the number of unnotified slums is 7. The Tambaram range comprises forest lands in Nanmangalam, Madurapakkam, Tambaram, Pulikoradu, Kumili, Vandalur, Onnamancherry, Erumaiyur, Vattampakkam and Vadakupattu.
In 2009, Tambaram taluk was trifurcated into Tambaram, Sholinganallur and Alandur taluks. Clubbing all the three taluks, a new revenue division with Tambaram as headquarters was formed.
Creation of the Municipal Corporation
The increasing population and rapid urbanisation increased the need for town planning, improved administration structure and human resource planning. These demands drove the creation of Tambaram City Municipal Corporation. The announcement to establish the Tambaram City Municipal Corporation was made by Minister for Municipal Administration K. N. Nehru in the state Assembly, on August 24, 2021 by merging five municipalities, five town panchayats and fifteen village panchayats.
Following a supreme court ruling to conduct rural local body elections by October 2021, the village panchayats elections for Pozhichalur, Cowl Bazaar, Tirusulam, Moovarasampattu, Kovilambakkam, Nanmangalam, Medavakkam, Vengaivasal, Perumbakkam, Sithalapakkam, Ottiyambakkam, Madurambakkam, Agaramthen, Thiruvancheri, Mudichur of the St.Thomas Mount panchayat union were held. As a result, the 15 village panchayats were excluded from the Government order issued by the State Government of Tamil Nadu on September 11, 2021.
The five municipalities— Anakaputhur, Pallavaram, Pammal, Sembakkam and Tambaram, and five town panchayats— Chitlapakkam, Madambakkam, Perungaluthur, Peerkangaranai and Tiruneermalai, were merged to form the Tambaram City Municipal Corporation.
Expansion of Tambaram Corporation Limits by annexing 15 villages from St.Thomas Mount Panchayat Union
After the tenure of existing village panchayats ends in 2026, the proposed village panchayats may get annexed into corporation limits, and may accordingly be converted into urban wards.
Administrative Divisions
When Tambaram City Municipal Corporation was established, it consisted of 70 wards under 5 zones.
zones of Tambaram City
Zone 1
Zone 1 comprises 14 wards. Wards numbered 1 through 8 and 10, 11, 12, 29, 30 and 31 are included in this zone. The former Pammal Municipality Office was converted to Zone 1 Office of the Tambaram City Municipal Corporation.
Zone 2
Zone 2 comprises 14 wards. Wards numbered 13 through 21 and 9, 24, 26, 27 and 28 are included in this zone. The former Pallavaram Municipality Office was converted to Zone 2 Office of the Tambaram City Municipal Corporation.
Zone 3
Zone 3 comprises 14 wards. Wards numbered 22, 23, 25, and 34 through 44 are included in this zone. The former Sembakkam Municipality Office was converted to Zone 3 Office of the Tambaram City Municipal Corporation.
Zone 4
Zone 4 comprises 15 wards. Wards numbered 32, 33, and 49 through 61 are included in this zone. The former Perungalathur Town Panchayat Office was converted to Zone 4 Office of the Tambaram City Municipal Corporation.
Zone 5
Zone 5 comprises 14 wards. Wards numbered 45 through 48, and 62 through 70 are included in this zone. The former Madambakkam Town Panchyat Office was converted to Zone 5 Office of the Tambaram City Municipal Corporation.
Area Sabha
Tambaram Corporation has 70 wards and each ward is divided into nine Area Sabhas with one member heading it. Totally, the Corporation has 630 Area Sabhas. First Time, Area Sabhas to be conducted for all the urban local bodies on November 1 which is declared as Local Governance Day.
Area Sabhas will be conducted once in three months.
Atleast 200 residents from the ward are required to participate for conducting Area Sabha.
First Area Sabha will be conducted for Tambaram Corporation in Ward 6 of Zone 1 Pammal on 1st November 2022 by Chief Minister.
Executive Branch
Corporation Commissioner
The executive authority in Tambaram City Municipal Corporation is vested in Corporation Commissioner.
List of Corporation Commissioner
| No. | Portrait | Name | Term | City Council |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M. Elangovan | November 3, 2021 – Present |
1st |
Legislative Branch
The legislative branch of Tambaram City Municipal Corporation consists of a council of elected councillors from each ward. The Legislative body is presided over by the Mayor who is indirectly elected by the councillors.
Mayor
The Mayor is the head of the municipal corporation, but the role is largely ceremonial as executive powers are vested in the Corporation Commissioner. The office of the Mayor combines a functional role of chairing the Corporation meeting as well as a ceremonial role associated with being the First Citizen of the city.
List of Mayors
| No. | Portrait | Name | Term | Party | City Council | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | K. Vasanthakumari | 4 March 2022 – Present |
DMK | 1st | ||
Deputy Mayors
Deputy Mayor is appointed by the Mayor for a five-year term.
List of Deputy Mayors
| No. | Portrait | Name | Term | Party | City Council | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | G Kamaraj | 4 March 2022 – Present |
DMK | 1st | ||
Councillors
The legislative branch of Tambaram City Municipal Corporation consists of a council of elected councillors from each ward.
| Alliance & Parties | Ideology | Leader(s) | 2022 result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | ||||||
| SPA | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | Social Democracy | M. K. Stalin |
50 / 70 |
||
| Indian National Congress | Social Liberalism | K. Selvaperunthagai |
2 / 70 |
|||
| Communist Party of India (Marxist) | Communism | P. Mahalingam |
1 / 70 |
|||
| AIADMK | All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | Social Democracy | Edappadi K. Palaniswami |
9 / 70 |
||
| Independent | Independent | Independent | N/A |
8 / 70 |
||
List of Councils
| No. | Term | Government | Opposition | Other Parties | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alliance | Parties | Alliance | Parties | |||||||||||||
| 1st | 4 March 2022 – Present |
SPA |
53 / 70 |
DMK |
50 / 70 |
AIADMK |
9 / 70 |
AIADMK |
9 / 70 |
Independent |
8 / 70 |
|||||
| INC |
2 / 70 |
|||||||||||||||
| CPI(M) |
1 / 70 |
|||||||||||||||
Law and order
In September 2021, the government revealed its plans of reforming the Greater Chennai City Police and setting up two new commissionerates in Tambaram and Avadi. Subsequently, Director General of Police (DGP) M. Ravi was deputed as special officers to form the Commissionerates. The new Police Commissionerates in Tambaram was formally inaugurated by the Chief Minister M. K. Stalin on 1 January 2022. Now Additional Director General of Police(ADGP) Amalraj IPS took over charge as CoP of Tambaram City Police.
The Tambaram police commissionerate will function with two police districts— Tambaram and Pallikaranai, comprising 20 police stations. For ease of administration, Somangalam and Manimangalam police stations from Kancheepuram district along with Otteri, Guduvanchery, Maraimalai Nagar, Thalambur and Kelambakkam police stations from Chengalpattu district have been attached to the Tambaram Police Commissionerate.