15 places declared as heritage cities

To safeguard heritage places in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today declared additional 15 cities as heritage cities and announced Rs one crore each to them to undertake development work.

Mannargudi, Namakkal, Mayiladuthurai, South Thiruperai, Alwarthirunagar, Perungkulam, Thirukoyilur, Srimushanam, Tharamangalam, Thiruparankundram, Solingar, Chennimalai, Tiruvattaru, Suseendhram and Kodumudi have been declared as heritage" cities, an official release said.

The AIADMK government during its previous regimes had announced a total of 39 cities as "heritage cities".

With today's announcement, the number of heritage cities in the state is 54, it said.