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Vellore trifurcated: How Tirupattur, Ranipet make Tamil Nadu’s list of districts even longer

When Tamil Nadu was founded in 1967, it had 13 districts including Chengalpattu, Coimbatore, Kanyakumari, Madras, Madurai, Nilgiris, North Arcot, Ramanathapuram, Salem, South Arcot, Thanjavur, Tiruchirappalli, and Tirunelveli. Since then, 24 additional districts have been carved out.

Tamil nadu districts created aiadmk dmk govt Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami gestures as he reviews the parade during the 73rd Independence Day celebrations at Fort St. George in Chennai, Thursday, August 15, 2019. (PTI Photo/R Senthil Kumar)

Since January this year, the AIADMK-led Tamil Nadu government has created five additional districts in the state. On Thursday, the government trifurcated Vellore to create two additional districts, Tirupattur and Ranipet. In July, the government had notified two new districts Chengalpattu and Tenkasi, carved out of Kancheepuram and Tirunelveli districts respectively. In January this year, the district of Kallakurichi, carved out of Villuppuram district, was created.

With the internal map of Tamil Nadu redrawn, the state now has 37 districts in all.

When Tamil Nadu was founded in 1967, it had 13 districts including Chingleput, Coimbatore, Kanyakumari, Madras, Madurai, Nilgiris, North Arcot, Ramanathapuram, Salem, South Arcot, Thanjavur, Tiruchirappalli, and Tirunelveli.

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Since then, 24 additional districts have been created. The state has a history of creating smaller districts for better administration and governance. In most cases, it follows a norm of keeping the borders of the district around 100 km from the district headquarters. The necessity has stemmed from demands by the local people, who otherwise have to travel from remote areas to the district headquarters.

YEAR DISTRICT CARVED OUT OF CHIEF MINISTER PARTY
1965 Dharmapuri Salem M. Bakthavatsalam Congress
1974 Pudukkottai Tanjavur, Tiruchirappalli M. Karunanidhi DMK
1979 Erode Coimbatore M. G. Ramachandran AIADMK
1985 Virudhunagar Ramanathapuram M. G. Ramachandran AIADMK
1985 Sivaganga Ramanathapuram M. G. Ramachandran AIADMK
1985 Dindigul Madurai M. G. Ramachandran AIADMK
1986 Thoothukudi Tirunelveli M. G. Ramachandran AIADMK
1989 Tiruvannamalai North Arcot district (ceased to exist) M. Karunanidhi DMK
1989 Vellore North Arcot district (ceased to exist) M. Karunanidhi DMK
1991 Nagapattinam Thanjavur J. Jayalalithaa AIADMK
1991 Tiruvarur Thanjavur J. Jayalalithaa AIADMK
1993 Cuddalore South Arcoddistrict (ceased to exist) J. Jayalalithaa AIADMK
1993 Viluppuram South Arcoddistrict (ceased to exist) J. Jayalalithaa AIADMK
1995 Perambalur Tiruchirappalli J. Jayalalithaa AIADMK
1996 Karur Tiruchirappalli J. Jayalalithaa AIADMK
1996 Theni Madurai M. Karunanidhi DMK
1997 Namakkal Salem M. Karunanidhi DMK
1997 Kancheepuram Chengalpattu (ceased to exist) M. Karunanidhi DMK
1997 Tiruvallur Chengalpattu (ceased to exist) M. Karunanidhi DMK
2004 Krishnagiri Dharmapuri J. Jayalalithaa AIADMK
2007 Ariyalur Perambalur M. Karunanidhi DMK
2009 Tiruppur Coimbatore, Erode M. Karunanidhi DMK
2019 Kallakurichi Viluppuram Edapaddi K Palaniswami AIADMK
2019 Tenkasi Tirunelveli Edapaddi K Palaniswami AIADMK
2019 Chengalpattu Kancheepuram Edapaddi K Palaniswami AIADMK
2019 Ranipet Vellore Edapaddi K Palaniswami AIADMK
2019 Tirupattur Vellore Edapaddi K Palaniswami AIADMK

With Tamil Nadu oscillating between AIADMK and DMK governments, both parties have heeded to the peoples’ demand to create smaller districts for effective governance. Nine districts were created by the DMK government, while 16 were created during AIADMK’s time. The year 2019, however, has seen the largest number of districts created, at five, with EPS at the helm of the government.

First uploaded on: 15-08-2019 at 14:44 IST
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