The Tamil Nadu government, which has identified three sites for the proposed Assembly-Secretariat complex in Chennai, is expected to make its final choice and announce it by the middle of this month.

The sites identified by the government are: the Highways Research Station (HRS) in Guindy; a residential colony established by the Tamil Nadu Housing Board in Pattinapakkam (Foreshore Estate); and the plot once occupied by the now-defunct Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (IDPL) in Nandambakkam.

Each site has its own pros and cons. For instance, the HRS complex, located opposite the Lok Bhavan, is accessible through a fairly broad Sardar Patel Road. In fact, this formed a part of the area chosen by the AIADMK regime under Jayalalithaa for the Secretariat complex in 2003. Later that year, she laid the foundation stone for the Secretariat project, which covered about 43 acres and extended from the Gandhi Mandapam Road-end to the HRS on Sardar Patel Road. The proximity of the HRS compound to Anna University, where a large number of students are studying, is a factor that needs to be kept in mind.

Though not located on roads as wide as those in the case of the HRS, the sites of Foreshore Estate and Nandambakkam are in accessible spots. It is a matter of time before Chennai Metro Rail services, covering Nandambakkam too, will be inaugurated, while Foreshore Estate is located closer to Adyar and Mylapore, two important areas of Chennai. However, Foreshore Estate is in a critical yet dreaded part of the city for commuters.

Two of Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s predecessors, Jayalalithaa and M. Karunanidhi, had attempted to shift the Secretariat from the existing Fort St. George. While Jayalalithaa’s efforts were futile, Karunanidhi had constructed a new Secretariat building at the Omandurar Government Estate, but Jayalalithaa, upon returning to power in 2011, had converted it into a multi-speciality hospital.