Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Thursday said Tirunelveli and Kancheepuram districts will be bifurcated to create two new districts headquartered in Tenkasi and Chengalpattu.

Announcing this in the Assembly, Palaniswami said representations were received from ministers, legislators and public to bifurcate big districts like Tirunelveli and Kancheepuram. He said the bifurcation is made for administrative convenience.

With this, the total number of districts in Tamil Nadu will go up to 35. Palaniswami also said separate officials will be appointed for these two new districts - Tenkasi and Chengalpattu.

According to 2011 census, Tenkasi had a population of 70,545 and Chengalpattu had 62,579. While Chengalpattu is closer to Chennai and has its fair share of industries and colleges, Tenkasi paints an idyllic picture with good natural bounty dotted by plenty of rivers like Chittar River, Thamirabarani River, Manimuthar River and Pachaiyar River. While one is known as the industrial hub the other can be called a tourism destination with the most scenic Pazhaya Coutralaruvi or the old falls.

Chengalpattu Government Hospital is a landmark in this district and its also has the Dr Ambedkar Law College.

As of now, Tenkasi Assembly Constituency is part of Tenkasi Lok Sabha Constituency. Dhanush M Kumar from the DMK won from Tenkasi during the Lok Sabha elections of 2019. Chengalpattu Assembly constituency is part of Kancheepuram Lok Sabha Constituency.

Just this January, Kallakurichi bifurcated from Villupuram and became the 33rd district in the state. The Chief Minister was giving a speech in the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly in response to the Governor’s speech when he said that in accordance with the requests made by C Ve Shanmugam, the law minister and the MLA from Ulundurpet assembly constituency in Villupuram district, the new district has been announced.

In 2008, Tiruppur was formed in Tamil Nadu with parts from Coimbatore and Erode districts.

(With inputs from IANS)