Anglicised names of 3,000 places to change to Tamil

Chennai, Dec 13: At a time the central government is facing wrath for renaming cities, the Tamil Nadu government is all set to rename more than 3,000 locations in the state.

As per the initiative, Triplicane will be renamed as Thiruvallikeni, Tuticorin will become Thoothukudi, Poonamallee to Poovirundhavalli, Tiruchy as Tiruchirappalli while Egmore will become Ezhumbur, Ooty as Udhagamandalam and Villupuram as Vizhupuram.

A recent order issued by the state Tamil development department said a high-level committee had been formed to finalise suggestions from Tamil scholars from all the 32 districts.

"Over 3,000 names will figure in the list that has been prepared in consultation with the revenue department, which is empowered to decide. The GO will be issued in two week's time," Pandiarajan told reporters here on Saturday.

He said already the issue of renaming the cities towns, localities and streets have been discussed with the officials concerned, and recently the list of names were finalised at a meeting of district collectors.

The Centre has given consent to the renaming of at least 25 towns and villages across India in the past one year and among the pending proposals is one for the state of West Bengal.

The renaming of a state requires amendment of the Constitution with a simple majority in Parliament. For changing the name of a village or town, an executive order is needed.