Ma. Subramanian. File | Photo credit: M. Srinatha
Saidapet sitting MLA and Health Minister Ma. Subramanian discusses his plan to convert the constituency into a medical and environmental hub as well as provide local resettlement for the residents, which will also help kick-start the Adyar river restoration project. Streamlining Kalaignar Kaappittu Thittam for better coverage, next phases of Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam including cancer screening are also on his to-do list.
Here are the edited excerpts:
Q: You have been the MLA of Saidapet since 2016. What will be the first issues you will tackle when you return to power?
From 1996 when I was a councilor and ward committee chairman, I have been associated as an elected representative of Saidapet until 2006. After that, I was still a Saidapet councilor until 2011 when I was elected as mayor. Since 2016, I have served as an MLA for five years as part of the opposition party and the ruling party for another five years; and the Minister of Health and Social Care. When the next regime starts, more initiatives (survey promises) will be launched. In 15 months, the hospital for children will be inaugurated. Our goal is to make Saidapet an international medical center. This government is setting up an eco-park (160.86 acres Madras Race Club) on 25 acres of the (total planned) 118 acres for ₹39 crore. In the next period, they will try to convert the entire 118 acres into an eco-park.
DMK candidate from Saidapet Assembly constituency and Health Minister Ma. Subramanian campaign in Saidapet | Photo credit: B. Velankanni Raj
Q: There are still issues related to pattas in some parts of the constituency…
There is some backlog in distribution of pattas due to reclassification of documents. However, we started the work and distributed it to roughly half of the beneficiaries. The work will be completed soon.
We also need to give pattas to those who received land as part of the one-time payment scheme of the erstwhile Slum Clearance Committee (now the Tamil Nadu Urban Development Board). The problem is that the fixed rate is high. I protested against this at the cabinet meeting. There is a possibility that the chief minister will reduce the amount in the next term.
In poramboke water bodies, the government is very strict in issuing pattas. Yet, after the Adyar River was fenced, the people on the land behind it got a patta.
Q: The Adyar river restoration project was one of the major announcements in the TN budget 2024. It is still in the DPR stage. When does the work start?
Right now the plan is to desilt Adyar, clean it, widen it, build embankments and make it a tourist attraction. The problem is that about 9,000 houses in Thideer Nagar, Malligaipoo Nagar, near Sathya Nagar, then Aatruma Nagar, Barma Colony, Ambedkar Nagar will have to be vacated. Arrangements were made to build 1700 houses in Kotturpuram. We will try to resettle them in the same location and then we will start the restoration work of Adyar river.
?
Question: In Saidapet, people complain that there is a risk of mosquitoes due to irregular fogging.
As for the mosquito threat, breeding is seasonal. There are specific breeding times when fogging and spraying will be done by the local administration. There are also about five zones in my jurisdiction. I hold meetings and regularly monitor fogging and spraying.
Of course, no one can say that mosquitoes are eliminated 100%. These are riverine constituencies — the Adyar and the Cooum river run through — so there will be some mosquitoes. With more attention, it can be further reduced.
Question: Can the pace of work on the Teynampet-Saidapet flyover project be accelerated?
The speed with which work on the flyover is progressing is already the fastest possible pace. Costing ₹671 crore, this 3.2 km long project is very challenging. There is an underground subway network and we are trying to build a bridge above us. We use the expertise of German architects and builders. According to the schedule, it will be finished by June.
Q: What are DMK’s prospects in this election?
There is no anti-incumbency factor. DMK will win with a huge margin of votes.
I have been a candidate since 1996 — almost 30 years in elections. From my experience, in these 30 years, the surge (for DMK voters) like the one now in Saidapet has never happened before – not even when DMK won by 30,000 votes, or in the assembly elections when the margin was 49,000 votes. Now it’s even more.
Published – 04 April 2026 05:30 IST
