Housing

1943 Madras floods

Six days of continuous northeast monsoon rain caused the Cooum and Adyar rivers to overflow, flooding slums across Madras.

Madras State Housing Board formed

The City Improvement Trust of 1947 was expanded into a statewide housing board, later the Tamil Nadu Housing Board.

Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board created

The Karunanidhi government created the Slum Clearance Board to replace slums with tenements, later backed by a 1971 Act.

Madras Metropolitan Development Authority constituted

A metropolitan development authority was set up to plan Madras city and its suburbs, becoming a statutory body in 1974.

Oru Vilakku one-lamp electricity scheme

Under the 'one lamp' scheme, the MGR government supplied small homes with free electricity and an electric lamp paid for by the state.

First Samathuvapuram equality village inaugurated

The first Periyar Ninaivu Samathuvapuram, a housing colony where families of different castes live side by side, opened near Madurai.

2004 Indian Ocean tsunami strikes the Tamil Nadu coast

The tsunami after the Sumatra earthquake killed about 8,000 people in Tamil Nadu, with Nagapattinam the worst-hit district.

Kalaignar Veettu Vasathi Thittam to replace huts

The DMK government launched a scheme to convert thatched rural huts into permanent concrete houses over six years.

Amma Cement sold at half the market price

The state began selling low-priced 'Amma' cement at Rs. 190 a bag through Civil Supplies Corporation godowns, starting in Tiruchi.

Kalaignar Kanavu Illam housing scheme

A rural housing scheme announced in the 2024-25 budget aimed to build eight lakh concrete houses and make Tamil Nadu hut-free by 2030.