Perumbakkam, off the OMR, is the main destination for families moved off the banks of the Cooum and Adyar. The Urban Habitat Development Board’s own figures show how many were moved, where they went, and what they paid.
The numbers
Of the 23,796 families counted on the banks of the Cooum and Adyar, 18,535 had been resettled when the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB) wrote its policy note for 2024-25, leaving 5,261 to go. Most of the Cooum families went south to Perumbakkam: a TNUHDB status report filed with the National Green Tribunal in November 2023 shows 10,289 tenements there earmarked for them and occupied.
Perumbakkam, with Okkiyam Thoraipakkam, Navalur and Semmencheri along the OMR, forms a belt of resettlement estates some distance from the riverbank neighbourhoods these families left. The official data cannot measure what that distance costs a household, but it does show the scale of the move and who paid for the flats.
Who moved, and from where
| River | Families to be resettled | Resettled | Remaining |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cooum | 14,257 | 13,484 | 773 |
| Adyar | 9,539 | 5,051 | 4,488 |
| Total | 23,796 | 18,535 | 5,261 |
Source: Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board, Policy Note 2024-25, waterway resettlement table
The Cooum programme is nearly done, at about 95% of families moved. The Adyar is just over half done. The policy note gave March 2025 as the target to finish the remaining 5,261 under the Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP) component of the Union’s Housing for All mission. In the November 2023 tribunal filing the board said 1,497 tenements were ready and 3,795 more would be ready by January 2024 for the families still on the Adyar and Cooum. For the Buckingham Canal, a boundary survey and family count were still under way, so no number was given.
Where they went
The tribunal filing lists the receiving sites. Besides Perumbakkam’s 10,289, Cooum families went to Navalur (1,093 tenements) and to Gudapakkam in Thiruvallur district (735); Adyar families went to several Perumbakkam phases, to Ezhil Nagar, Semmencheri and Okkiyam Thoraipakkam (658). The filing’s tables are partly illegible in the scanned copy, so per-phase totals for the Adyar cannot be read reliably. It also attaches G.O.Ms.No.3 of 7 January 2016, which allowed 25,000 tenements at Perumbakkam, Okkiyam Thoraipakkam, Navalur and AIR Land to be allotted, and G.O.Ms.No.9 of 13 January 2015, which sanctioned ₹604.77 crore for short-term projects, ₹181.85 crore of it for removing encroachments and rehabilitation.
Tenements TNUHDB has built and maintains in Chennai, in 206 schemes, out of 1,93,891 statewide, according to its 2024-25 policy note.
What a tenement costs, and who pays
| Per unit (₹ lakh) | Union grant | State grant | Beneficiary | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AHP tenement | 1.50 | 7.50 to 13.00 | 1.00 to 6.00 | 10.00 to 17.00 |
| BLC individual house | 1.50 | 0.60 | 0.90 | 3.00 |
Source: Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board, Policy Note 2024-25, cost-sharing table
The state pays most of the cost of an AHP flat, but families are not given them free. They contribute between ₹1 lakh and ₹6 lakh, depending on the project. For a low-income household that is a large sum, and the note allows it to be paid in one instalment for reconstruction projects with higher FSI. Under the Beneficiary Led Construction (BLC) route, families who own a plot get help to build their own house for a total of ₹3 lakh.
It’s often said families moved from the rivers were given free flats.
The record shows Under the AHP cost-sharing in TNUHDB’s 2024-25 policy note, each beneficiary contributes ₹1 lakh to ₹6 lakh towards a tenement costing ₹10 lakh to ₹17 lakh.
Resettlement is a slice of a much larger statewide programme. Under AHP, sanction had been given for 1,43,696 tenements costing ₹17,133.15 crore, of which 57,107 were completed between 2015 and 2024 and 79,094 were in progress. Under BLC, 4,10,574 houses were sanctioned for ₹12,619.21 crore and 3,10,712 completed. Between 2021 and 2024 the government inaugurated 96 tenement schemes with 29,439 units worth ₹3,248.74 crore, the policy note says.
Running the estates
Large estates need maintenance, and the board is handing that to residents. Under its Our Tenements, Our Responsibility scheme, 694 resident welfare associations were planned, 680 formed and 543 registered; the state matches the maintenance charges they collect. Between 2022 and 2024 the board spent ₹50.53 crore on repairs, completing work on 74,208 tenements in 109 schemes. It reports skill training for 6,936 people, 247 youth clubs and scholarships worth ₹138.45 lakh for 601 students between 2021 and 2024.
Those figures are statewide, not for Perumbakkam alone, and measure inputs rather than results. They say how many people were trained, not how many found work near the estates. Residents who want site-level figures for Perumbakkam can seek them from the board under the Right to Information Act, since the policy note does not publish them.
The rebuilding of old tenements
The same board is also rebuilding its oldest inner-city blocks, often for the families already living there. Since 2008 it has taken up 28,995 tenements for reconstruction, finishing 14,718 by 2024, with 14,277 in progress and 28,643 more planned. North Chennai’s next round, for 2024 to 2026, covers 1,336 units for ₹215 crore at Kodungaiyur, East Cemetery Road and Kothandaramar Street. Separately, the housing department lists a rehabilitation scheme of 6,877 tenements at Ernavur, which the 2024-25 note described as nearing completion at ₹1,168.16 crore.
The Comptroller and Auditor General has looked at the programme as a whole. Its Report No. 2 of 2023, a performance audit on housing for the urban poor in Tamil Nadu, was tabled in the Assembly on 11 October 2023.
What this means for you
- If you live in a TNUHDB tenement, your resident welfare association can claim a matching state grant for maintenance it collects.
- Families still on the Adyar or Buckingham Canal banks should keep enumeration slips and identity papers; allotment depends on being counted.
- Ask what your beneficiary contribution will be before allotment; it ranges from ₹1 lakh to ₹6 lakh by project.
- Residents of old tenements being rebuilt should get written terms on the new unit and any interim arrangement before moving out.
What to watch
Pending
Resettlement of the remaining 5,261 Cooum and Adyar families, which the board targeted for March 2025; the next policy note should say whether it was met.
Pending
A family count for the Buckingham Canal, still in progress in the November 2023 filing.
Checked against official sources on 23 October 2026. Figures and rules change; confirm on the linked official pages before relying on them.
Sources
- Policy Note 2024-25, Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board, Housing and Urban Development Department
- Compilation filed in O.A. No. 299 of 2013 (SZ) and connected cases, NGT, including TNUHDB status report dated 29.11.2023
- Policy Note 2024-25, Housing and Urban Development Department, Government of Tamil Nadu
- Policy Note 2023-24, Housing and Urban Development Department, Government of Tamil Nadu
- CAG Report No. 2 of 2023, Performance Audit on Housing for Urban Poor, Government of Tamil Nadu
