Chithra Narayanan, 60, the first woman chief urban planner of the Chennai Metropolitan Area, died on Friday.

According to family members, she was undergoing treatment for fluid accumulation in her lungs for the past few days. Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) officials point to her integrity and honesty.

“Ms. Chithra played a key role in the preparation of the second master plan for the Chennai Metropolitan Area in 2008. She also contributed to the expansion and proposal for the preparation of the Strategic Regional Plan for the region,” said K. Kumar, former Chief Planner, CMDA.

“Her contribution to the public consultation for the second master plan was significant. It was the largest public consultation in the country. The process of doing it in a consultative manner was successful because of her contribution,” he said.

Ms. Chithra did her Ph.D in Madras University and was a visiting faculty of the School of Architecture and Planning, Anna University. “She was a very good officer with high integrity. A very disciplined and bold officer. She also contributed to the preparation of structure plan for Chennai in the late 1970s. But the government did not implement it. It would have solved the problem of inundation,” said Mr. Kumar.

CMDA Chief Planner M. Sivashanmugam said she was a very hard working and bold officer. She was also held in high esteem by those who work for a corruption-free government. She was an active member of the Institute of Town Planning, India. She also contributed towards heritage conservation in Chennai.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – August 04th, 2018