What happens when a boy from Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) and a girl from Tambaram-Velachery Main Road (TVMR) settle down in matrimony? If my life story is anything to go by — a ceaseless, no-holds-barred argument about ‘Which is better: OMR or TVMR?’ Arguments smudged with emotions may not amount to a hill of beans. However, a comparative study of these corridors is both engaging and challenging.
Here goes…
By virtue of location, these two corridors are organically connected. There is constant interplay, facilitated by link roads. Yet, these two arterial roads are markedly different in character. For, they have followed different development scripts.
One section of TVMR, which includes Tambaram and Selaiyur, began to witness an increasing number of settlers after the establishment of the southern rail line between Beach and Tambaram, many decades ago. The other section of this road, which includes Velachery and Pallikaranai, became attractive to many home buyers when the MRTS station came up at Velachery. So, traditionally, localities on TVMR have served as commuter towns. People, most of them, live on this corridor, but travel to another region for work.
Now, OMR. Even a galactic wayfarer from Mars would acknowledge straightaway that the trigger for OMR’s development was the IT industry. Unlike TVMR, from the beginning, this corridor was going to have a mix of office and residential spaces — and these spaces would be tall and sprawling. People would live and work here, with some of them experiencing the ideal situation of walking their children to school before they themselves walked to work. Every year, education and real estate brands would find themselves an OMR address.
Interestingly, as a result of the IT sector’s growing presence on OMR, many localities on TVMR now have a high concentration of IT professionals. The sluggish movement of vehicles from Medavakkam towards Sholinganallur, during the morning rush hour, bears this out. So, a vast section of TVMR has been subsumed in the larger IT dream. That, however, is not meant to belittle TVMR in any way. The stretch is being widened. Social infrastructure and options for shopping are impressive.
However, development of commercial and social infrastructure is bound to be more intense on OMR. For, there is a ready and engaging script around which brands can weave their stories. The script has to do with the IT crowd, and it has many catchy sub-plots. Not only residents (which would include IT professionals), but the huge IT workforce moving into and out of OMR every day are also the target of brands. Except for the weekend, many people tend to access facilities closer to their office than those near home, because most of their waking hours are spent around work. Then, the presence of humongous gated communities on roads leading off OMR has led to a trend of brands seeking a hyper-local presence. In other words, they focus on a locality that has a raft of gated communities.
Now, as one could see, OMR and TVMR are on two different development trajectories. The good news is that they meet in a manner that has great implications for the development of the region.
It’s a marriage of two corridors that is enriched by diversity.
