CHENNAI: The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority is scouting for consultants to prepare the project report for development of Grid of Road Network Plan for 143 villages in Chennai Metropolitan Area under the second phase. It is learnt from sources in Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Financial Services Limited that the agency has been hired to appoint a consultant to formulate and evolve an efficient Grid of Road network plan providing better connectivity and access to the major arterial and sub arterial roads along Outer Ring Road and fast-growing areas in southern sector of Chennai Metropolitan Area.
Interestingly, this comes as the plan to prepare Grid of Roads to develop the area along the 62-km Chennai Outer Ring Road is still on paper for the last five years. It was on February 1, 2013, a GO was passed asking the State Highways department to prepare detailed project report (DPR) to form 18 road grid linkages with the Chennai Outer Ring Road at a cost of ` 5.22 crore.
Interestingly, in August, 2015, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority took up the project of preparing Grid of Roads through a meeting of authority while shelving the work on preparing detailed development plans for Villivakkam, Nazarathpet, Velachery, Ambattur and Perumbakkam, which could help in planned development of these areas. It had asked School of Architecture and Planning, Anna University and School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada, to prepare the road network.
K P Subramaniam, a former professor of Urban engineering in Anna University, said the move to prepare second phase of the project is a welcome move but the government should expedite the preparation of grid of road network for the first phase.He stressed that the Master Plan should have been prepared only after the grid of road network is finalized. “The development should follow road network,” he said.
Association of Professional Town Planners president K M Sadanand said the first phase of study for grid of roads should be made public so that one can gauge whether it is feasible or not. He also said preparation of grid of roads should also take into consideration the views of town planners, transportation experts, railways, highways as well as other line agencies before it is being implemented.
Some of the 143 villages identified include Anakaputhur, Palaripattu, Paruthipattu Sekkadu, Thandarai, Thirumullaivoyal, Vilinjiyambakkam, Kulapakkam, Nedunkundram Puthur, Ayyappanthangal, Chinnapanichery in Kundrathur panchayat Union, Kovur, Kulathuvancheri, Moulivakkam, Naduveerapattu, Nandambakkam, Srinivasapuram, Thandalam, Tharapakkam, etc. Sources said the consultant has to make a detailed study on the existing road network in the given villages and propose a plan integrating the existing road network in connecting the arterial road.