In a statement issued by PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss, he said, "The media reports that the government has decided to abandon the plan to build the new Secretariat on land belonging to the Housing Board in Chennai’s Pattinapakkam and instead build the new Secretariat on the site at Pallavan Illam on Anna Salai, and that an official announcement on this will be released within a week—are these reports true? The Tamil Nadu government should clarify this.
The government’s decision to abandon the plan to build the Secretariat in Pattinapakkam is very welcome. However, if the news about setting up the Secretariat at Pallavan Illam is true, it is many times more wrong than that.
There are as many reasons and justifications for why a new Secretariat should not be set up in Pattinapakkam, but there are 100 times more reasons and justifications for why a new Secretariat should not be set up in Pallavan Illam. If you were to list the most traffic-congested places in Chennai, the area where Pallavan Illam is located would rank among the top three. Anna Salai, Chennai’s main road, is already trapped in severe traffic congestion, and if a new Secretariat is established at Pallavan Illam, then traffic on Anna Salai will become impossible to control.
Moreover, the total area of the site identified for constructing the new Secretariat in Pattinapakkam is 26.26 acres. During the DMK government led by Kalaignar, the land area allotted in 2007 for building the new Secretariat at Omandurar Government Estate was 39.54 acres. Of that, the land area on which the buildings constructed as the Secretariat and Legislative Assembly Secretariat now housing the Omandurar Multi-Specialty Hospital and medical colleges stand is only 19.48 acres. But the total area of Pallavan House, which has now been selected for constructing the new Secretariat, is only 13.22 acres.

Even if the new Secretariat and Legislative Assembly Secretariat built in the Omandurar Government Estate had become operational, it would still, in today’s context, have been inadequate in space and highly congested. Likewise, urban planning experts say that the 26.36 acres identified in Pattinapakkam would not be sufficient to build a new Secretariat. If that is the case, how can a Secretariat be built without congestion in the Pallavan House site, which is only one-third of the area identified in the Omandurar Government Estate and only half of what was identified in Pattinapakkam?
Moreover, Pallavan Illam, which is proposed to house the new Secretariat, is located on the banks of the Cooum River. If a Secretariat is built there over an area of 20 lakh square feet, it will not only harm the environment but also create the risk of flooding. In addition, since Anna Salai lies to the south of Pallavan Illam, Pallavan Salai to the east, the Cooum River to the west, and the St. Mary’s Warriors Cemetery and the Bodyguard Muneeswarar Temple to the north, even if there is a plan in the future to expand the new Secretariat, it will not be possible.
What the PMK wants to make clear again and again is that the need for a new Secretariat for the Government of Tamil Nadu has persisted for more than 25 years, and that to meet this need, a new Secretariat must be built quickly. In that sense, the Pattali Makkal Katchi fully supports the construction of a new Secretariat. However, PMK’s position is that it should be built with a long-term vision, taking future needs into account, and on a vast expanse of land with all facilities.
In the Legislative Assembly, Chief Minister Vijay, who announced the plan to establish a new Secretariat, said that the new complex would be designed to meet the needs of the next hundred years. If the Chief Minister’s dream is to come true, then in my view, not only Pattinapakkam but also Pallavan Illam is not a suitable location. That is why the PMK has been insisting that an integrated administrative city, including the Secretariat, should be set up outside Chennai on at least 500 to 1000 acres of land. Instead of doing that, the Tamil Nadu government is making the same mistake again and again by first planning to set up the new Secretariat in Pattinapakkam and, after opposition arose, in Pallavan Illam.
In the matter of setting up a new Secretariat, the Tamil Nadu government should act with an open mind and a long-term vision. For that, as the Pattali Makkal Katchi has already suggested, I request that they come forward to build the new Secretariat outside Chennai," he said.
