The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Satellite towns, metro rail and desalination plant for city

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 25, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Satellite towns, metro rail and desalination plant for city

N. Ravi Kumar

Government sets out comprehensive infrastructure development plan for Chennai

LOOKING FOR BETTER TIMES: An aerial view of Information Technology parks and residential flats at Okkiam Thoraipakkam on Old Mahabalipuram Road. The Government's announcement of creating satellite towns near Chennai should help decongest a metropolis bursting at the seams. — Photo: N. Sridharan

CHENNAI: The intent of the new regime in Tamil Nadu to develop satellite towns near Chennai, indication of which was available in the Governor's address to the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, could not have come a day too soon for the burgeoning metropolis.

The proposal to establish satellite towns, according to the Governor Surjit Singh Barnala, was a component of the overall plan to implement a comprehensive infrastructure development for Chennai metropolitan area "to fulfil the growing infrastructural needs of the city." Similar satellite towns will be established near other municipal corporation areas.

Other projects related to Chennai that promise to make life easy for the residents and covered in the Governor's address include the expeditious completion of the Perambur flyover, implementation of the metro rail and a proposed appeal to the Centre to take up speedy action on the expansion of the Chennai airport.

The desalination plant for Chennai would be established with the assistance already announced by the Centre, Mr. Barnala told the Assembly.

Apart from relieving the pressure on the city, the proposal on developing satellite towns might help address the aspirations of middle-class households to own a dwelling, something that has become increasingly difficult for them in Chennai given the sky-rocketing realty prices.

Chozha Foundations managing director M.K. Sundaram says development of satellite towns will help stabilise land prices in the city.

On the possible locations around Chennai that had the potential and could be developed as townships, he listed areas beyond Poonamallee, Tiruvallur, Gummidipoondi and Minjur. Besides road connectivity, some of these are also connected to Chennai by train and host several industries.

The announcement on satellite towns is in line with the demands of the construction industry. It comes within a week of the National Association of Software and Service Companies president Kiran Karnik underscoring the need for integrated townships across the country to meet the growing demand of the information technology industry.

Satellite townships are important to decongest the cities. Many construction companies in the US, European and in the Middle East are keen on promoting such facilities near Chennai, says Ramesh Nair, associate director of Jones Lang LaSalle, a global real estate advisory firm. For the success of such facilities the development control rules should be eased.

Sources in the construction industry say success of the facilities would largely depend on the State Government overcoming issues pertaining to land acquisition that invariably delay such large projects and putting in place the basic infrastructure such as roads, water and power.

While favouring the idea of decentralising Chennai by developing small and medium towns and cities, former professor of Anna University K.P. Subramanian says the investment, however, should be on existing towns and not in new towns. The gestation period for building new towns is high and the investment is colossal.

Any amount of investment in Chennai, he points out, will not improve the quality of life because the basic problem lies in the migration to the city.

"Over concentration of population and activities, and undue priority in investment for Chennai has to be watered down," he says, underscoring the need for priority in development of Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchi, Salem and Tirunelveli.

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