The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Friday passed a Bill to amend the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Act, 1978, (Tamil Nadu Act 28 of 1978) , tabled by Minister for Municipal Administration K.N. Nehru, to decriminalise minor offences, as recommended by Guidance Tamil Nadu.
The law makes getting a sewer connection mandatory for the owner or occupier of any premises on a private street where there is a sewer of the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board within 30 metres.
The House also adopted another Bill, tabled by Mr. Nehru, to make a suitable provision to the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act, 1998 (Tamil Nadu Act 9 of 1999) to declare a local area a town panchayat, municipal council, or municipal corporation, even if it does not meet the population and income criteria.
The Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act, 1998, states that any area where the population is estimated at not less than three lakhs and the annual income is “not less than thirty crores of rupees” may be constituted as a municipal corporation. Furthermore, since local areas comprising Karaikudi, Tiruvannamalai, Pudukottai, and Namakkal municipal councils have historical importance and attract pilgrims, they were declared municipal corporations under Clause (c) of Sub-section (1) of Section (3) of the Tamil Nadu Act 9 of 1999 through the notification dated March 15, 2024.
