Maraimalai Nagar to get 250-acre town centre

Commercial hub comprising malls, hotels and schools to come up on undeveloped land soon

May 25, 2013 09:01 am | Updated June 07, 2016 10:58 pm IST - CHENNAI:

CHENNAI, 24/05/2013: CMDA inspection of Maraimalai Nagar on Friday. Photo: Special Arrangement

CHENNAI, 24/05/2013: CMDA inspection of Maraimalai Nagar on Friday. Photo: Special Arrangement

The satellite township of Maraimalai Nagar will soon have malls, star hotels, hospitals, schools and multiplexes.

An undeveloped area spread over 250 acres has been earmarked for the purpose. Minister for housing and urban development, R. Vaithilingam, inspected the area on Friday and directed CMDA officials to prepare a layout for the development of a commercial hub.

Nearly four decades ago, the government acquired 1,914 acres of land for the development of the industrial suburb of Maraimalai Nagar. Today, the area boasts factories of several global car manufacturers as well as offices of software giants.

However, some 250 acres of land in the suburb is undeveloped. Some of the space has been encroached upon and some other plots are under litigation. On Friday, the minister asked Kancheepuram district collector to take steps to remove encroachments in the area for the development of the commercial hub.

The preparation of layout for the town centre is likely to be completed in three months. Currently, work on developing 30 non-polluting industrial plots and a commercial space covering 32 acres is underway at a cost of Rs. 14 crore. Each of the industrial plots ranges from 0.5 acre to 1.5 acre in area, a CMDA official said.

Work on installation of streetlights, laying of roads and drainage lines will be completed in two months, the official said.

A few weeks ago, Mr. Vaithilingam had announced a development plan for the Tiruporur-Maraimalai Nagar corridor comprising 134 villages. This will involve the preparation of base maps, collection of demographic and social data, a physical survey, preparation of existing land-use maps, analysis of infrastructure facilities, projection of population and future needs and working out spatial strategies.

Maraimalai Nagar, conceived in 1974 and developed a few years later, is named after Marai Malai Adigal, a Tamil scholar who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The township is located 45 km from Chennai and 10 km from Chengalpattu.

“Maraimalai Nagar was created to arrest migration to Chennai,” said another official of CMDA. It failed to serve the purpose but grew substantially due to heavy industrial activity.

On Friday, the Minister stressed the need for a commercial hub, comprising luxury hotels and schools, in the suburb to preserve the self-containing nature of the town that has planned residential and industrial areas.

Only non-polluting industries are permitted there, the official said.

However, the 58.08 sq. km. special-grade municipality suffers from pressing problems such as lack of protected water supply and inadequate transport facilities.

“Only six of the 21 wards have municipal water supply. A new scheme for water supply may improve conditions,” said M.G.K. Gopi Kannan, chairman of Maraimalai Nagar municipality.

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