1. TIMES CITY* THE TIMES OF INDIA, CHENNAI | TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2015
CAN IT EMPLOYEES FORM TRADE UNION? LET
GOVERNMENT DECIDE, SAYS HC | 6
MLAS SING FOR FORMER CHIEF MINISTER
JAYALALITHAA ON HER BIRTHDAY EVE | 9
Sky high plans needed for
CITY’S REDEVELOPMENT
Inner City Needs Revamp Without Tinkering With Monuments, Buildings Of Heritage, Cultural Value
Jayaraj.Sivan@timesgroup.com
B
eing one of the oldest cities
in the country, Chennai has
always grappled with hap-
hazard development. Roads
are either narrow or en-
croachedupon,powerlineshangdan-
gerously close to balconies, and build-
ings stand wall to wall, thanks to bla-
tant violation of building norms.
The solution lies in redeveloping
the inner city without tinkering with
monumentsandbuildingsof heritage
value that relate to the city’s culture,
tradition and history, said R Kumar,
MD of housing developer Navin’s.
Thisiswhatthegovernmentiscon-
templatingwitharedevelopmentplan.
“We have instructed Chennai Metro-
politanDevelopmentAuthoritytocol-
lect inputs from other cities, both
within the country and abroad, to for-
mulatetheredevelopmentplanforthe
city. The government has to work out
an incentivized plan that will take all
sections of people along with it. But it
is too early to spell out details,” said
housing secretary D P Yadav.
Prior to 1975, much of the develop-
mentinthecitywascarriedoutbythe
housing and slum clearance boards.
Quite a few housing townships like
SastriNagar,IndiraNagar,KKNagar
andAnnaNagarwerepromotedbythe
premier housing agency in the state.
Theywerewelllaidoutwithparksand
wide roads. Still, the buildings were
low-rise structures, covering a major
part of the land area. They underuti-
lized the floor space index (FSI is the
ratio of land area to built-up area).
Redevelopment would regenerate
theurbanscape,ensureeffectiveutili-
zation of resources, conserve energy,
improvemobilityandenhancequality
of life with minimal impact on the
environment, said Confederation of
RealEstateDevelopers’Associationof
IndiaTamilNaduchapterpresidentN
Nandakumar. It could take a decade.
The redevelopment has to be
throughaholisticapproachwhichwill
cover all aspects of city life. For in-
stance, a smarter grid should replace
the present low-efficiency power net-
workatthemacrolevelandconsumers
will have to shift to high efficiency en-
ergy conserving electrical systems at
the micro level. A well-planned mod-
ern Chennai would be saved from
burning garbage heaps as it would
have a waste management and recy-
cling policy. There would be automa-
tion in traffic management and secu-
rity surveillance, said Nandakumar.
Confederationof RealEstateDevel-
opers’Associationsof India(CREDAI)
has proposed a redevelopment model
for Chennai on the lines of the Mum-
baiurbanrenewalscheme,whichwas
approvedbytheMaharashtracabinet.
CREDAIhassuggestedredevelopment
of buildings over 25 years old that do
not comply with CMDA rules.
Rejiggingtheapprovalmechanism
for redevelopment is the first . “The
current system of approvals will only
push the city behind in the race with
internationalcities.Approvalsneedto
be time-bound,” said Satish Chander
Narayanan, associate director of in-
ternational property advisers, DTZ.
The government needs to ease ar-
chaic laws that restrict construction
of high-rise buildings on approved
residential layouts and colonies pro-
motedbyTamilNaduHousingBoard,
said Kumar of Navin’s. By replacing
low-risebuildingswithmulti-storeyed
structures,onecan provideopenspace
aroundbuildings,improveventilation
andlightinginsideapartments, create
enough parking space and decongest
roads, said Prakash Challa, MD of
SSPDL. More importantly, Chennai
wouldreemergeasapedestrian-friend-
ly city with broad pavements.
In old industrial clusters like
GuindyandAmbattur, landcanbere-
classified for commercial/residential
and institutional use. Barcelona in
Spain is an example worth emulating
in this regard, said Kumar.
One of the arterial roads and cen-
tral business districts of Chennai,
Anna Salai, is dotted with old com-
mercial buildings, some of which
were constructed in the 1970s. “They
are classified as Grade C facilities
owingtosmallfloorplates, fragment-
ed titles and poor building mainte-
nance. Similarly, there are old shop-
ping hubs like T Nagar, Purasaw-
alkam and Mylapore. They are ideal
contenders for redevelopment,” said
internationalrealtyconsultantJones
Lang LaSalle MD Sarita Hunt.
Large public places like railheads
and bus termini can transform into
commercial hubs like Birmingham
city centre in the UK and the Millen-
nium park within Grant park in Chi-
cago, said R Kumar.
Reviving core
city will boost
economy of
entire state
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
I
t’s not just Chennai that will ben-
efitfromredevelopment;thestate’s
economy will also get to grow ex-
ponentiallyonaccountof creationof
employment opportunities and pro-
motionof infrastructureprojectsdur-
ing the period of redevelopment.
Every rupee spent on infrastruc-
ture projects adds 78p to the GDP
(gross domestic product). Post rede-
velopment, there will be a significant
growthinthestate’sGDPonasustain-
able basis, said N Nandakumar, pres-
ident of CREDAI Tamil Nadu.
If one were to go by the high pow-
ercommitteereportthatwassubmit-
ted to the Union government, the in-
vestment into urban infrastructure
till 2030 is expected to be $650 billion.
This will be apportioned as 45% for
roads, water, sewerage, solid waste
managementandstormwaterdrains,
20%forstreetlightsand15%fortrans-
portandtraffic-relatedinfrastructure.
As regards Chennai, urban re-
newalisestimatedat$40billiongoing
by the current share in India’s econo-
my, said Satish Chander Narayanan,
associate director of international
propertyadvisersDTZ.If thegovern-
ment takes up redevelopment of the
city, this share will go up, he noted.
“As per a mid-term appraisal in
2012,theurbanshareof GDPwas63%
in2009-10.Itwasprojectedtoincrease
to70%-75%in2030,”saidNarayanan,
adding that it gave enormous scope
for investment in infrastructure.
Chennai’swaterdemand,whichis
1,200 million litres a day (mld), is ex-
pectedtogoupto2,250mldinthenext
10 years. On the power front, demand
isabout2,200MW,of whichonlyabout
2,000MWismet.Thedemandislikely
togoupbyroughly200MWeveryyear.
As for an analysis of economic
growth in relation to city redevelop-
ment, it has always been proven that
bothgohandinhand.Foreveryactive
redevelopment that has taken place,
the economy has witnessed positive
growth.ThebiggestexampleisShang-
hai,whichbecomeseasiertocompare
with Chennai as both are part of
densely populated Asian countries.
Chennai has a GDP of $70 billion
as compared to Shanghai’s $385 bil-
lion. Shanghai’s per capita GDP is
$15,000, whereas Chennai’s is $7,500.
But26yearsago,whenShanghaiwas
being redeveloped, the city’s per cap-
itaGDPwasonly$1,000.TodayShang-
hai’s growth rate is double that of
China’s entire economy.
City Area Population Density Vehicle Parks Road
(Sqkm) (Persons/Sqkm) Population Length (Km)
Chennai 424 26,533 39 Lakh 396 2,697
Bengaluru 741 10,100 — 938 1,984
Kolkata 185 24,718 11.44Lakh — 1,850
STACKING UP
CHENNAI IS ONE OF THE OLDEST CITIES IN THE COUNTRY AND
GRAPPLES WITH HAPHAZARD DEVELOPMENT
The path to
redevelopment
Redraw the entire
master plan and provide
for wide road, pavement
and rail network
Create water supply,
sanitation and other utility
infrastructure to cater to the
needs of the next 5 decades
Create large parks, open
space and green cover
Encourage development of
vertical villages by using tools
like land pooling to replace
clusters of low-rise buildings
Permit higher floor space
index (FSI is ratio of land area
to built-up area) for large
redevelopments
Repeal archaic rules that
prevent construction of
highrise buildings in layouts
and neighbourhoods
promoted by Tamil Nadu
Housing Board
Re-zone existing
industrial clusters in central
business districts for
commercial, residential and
institutional use
A BRAND NEW LOOK
IT’S GOING TO TAKE
MORE THAN TWEAKING
A FEW RULES TO RE-
DRAW THE CITYSCAPE
To decongest the narrow and bustling
streets around the Kapaleeswarar Temple
in Mylapore, the government could offer
owners in certain designated areas
transferable development rights (TDR). They
could move to other residential colonies and
the land acquired can be maintained as open
green space around the temple
Most industrial units in these
areas have been closed and
IT parks have been developed on
some plots. For the rest, the
government can look at
re-zoning the two industrial
estates for commercial and
residential use
Private developers
can be given extra
FSI to encourage
them to take up
redevelopment of
slums in crowded
areas such as
Saidapet
An artist’s impression
of Kathipara junction
after redevelopment
Imaging: Shinod Akkaraparambil
Old shopping
hubs such
as T Nagar,
Purasawalkam and
Mylapore are ideal
contenders for
redevelopment | Sarita
Hunt, MD, JONES LANG LASALLE
MAKING MONEY
MYLAPORE GUINDY & AMBATTURSAIDAPET
HOW CHENNAI’S BEST KNOWN AREAS CAN BE REDEVELOPED
Chennai: The city will be
the first in India to have a
‘dashboard’ on the lines of
LondonandNewYorkforits
civic officers to monitor
public work effectively. Cor-
poration of Chennai will in-
augurate the system this
week.
The new system will
map all roads, pavements,
bridges and public toilets,
with details of the contrac-
torassigned.“Thesystemal-
so ensures systemic evalua-
tion of civic officials based
on key performance indica-
tors. It will also help meet
deadlines and hold contrac-
tors responsible for delay,”
saidanofficial.
“Thedashboardactsasa
common information base
acrossdepartmentsonasin-
gle platform. Now we do not
have a clear strategy be-
cause of lack of documenta-
tion. Many officials are con-
fusedabouthowtostartand,
once they do, how to pro-
ceed. The new system will
make the job easier for ju-
nior engineers and revenue
inspectors. It will have de-
tails of their responsibili-
ties and allow senior offi-
cials to give instructions,”
saidacorporationofficial.
The civic body had
signed an MoU with NGO
Transparent Chennai to
help it develop a dashboard
to integrate data on public
work.Itwasthepetprojectof
joint commissioner Vijay
Pingale who was trans-
ferred to the industries de-
partment after his decision
to penalise erring road con-
tractors. In the absence of
such a system, some roads
arebeingleftoutof theplan,
while some others are re-
peatedlyre-laid.
RTI activists welcomed
the civic body’s plan. “The
corporation should make
the dashboard public. The
civic body often delays and
denies information under
the RTI Act citing lack of
documents. We expect the
new system to boost ac-
countability,”saidMThuya-
murthy,anRTIactivist.
Some residents said the
civic body should imple-
ment its proposal to intro-
duce an online file tracking
system.“Thiswillhelpuslo-
catefilesandlearnwhichof-
ficials are delaying them. A
singlewindowtoaccessvar-
ious services would mean
fewer visits to corporation
offices,”saidKKumar,ares-
identof TNagar.
‘Dashboard’ ready
to help corpn
drive projects
THE SYSTEM
Corpn has signed an
MoU with an NGO to help
develop a dashboard to
integrate data that
enables decision making
Every work has a
unique identification
number generated by
the system which is used
for tracking
Updated work is linked
to e-tendering
application which flows
through various stages
of approval. Only then
work can commence
Bills raised, payments
made and work in
progress can be tracked
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai: A special court in
the city on Monday sen-
tenced four members of a
Muslim radical organisa-
tion to 10 years of rigorous
imprisonment for plotting
bomb blasts at temples in
Chennaiin2002.
According to the prose-
cution, police were on an
alert after receiving a tip
that Muslim Defence Force
(MDF) was planning explo-
sions at important Hindu
templesinthecitytofoment
communal violence on De-
cember6,2002,the10thanni-
versary of Babri masjid
demolition.
Special public prosecu-
torNVijayarajsaidduringa
vehicle check, a police team
led by sub-inspector Mahin-
dranapprehendedtwoMDF
operatives, Zakir Hussain
aliasZakirah,28,andTowfiq
aliasYasir,27,with5kgof ex-
plosives, 40 gelatin sticks
and detonators near Raja-
ratnam Nagar bridge in Ko-
dungaiyur on November 29,
2002.
Subsequently,acasewas
registered under Sections 5,
9 (B) and (1) (a) of the Explo-
sives Substances Act and
120(b)(criminalconspiracy)
of the IPC. Based on infor-
mation from the duo, police
seized a large amount of ex-
plosives from Mallipatti-
nam in Thanjavur district,
and arrested two more peo-
ple, Nizamuddin and Abdul
Quadir. The case was later
transferredtotheSpecialIn-
vestigation Team (SIT) of
the Crime Branch-Criminal
Investigation Department
After investigation, police
chargesheeted 23 people in
the case. On completion of
the trial, P Murugan, judge
of thespecialcourtforbomb
blast cases in Poonamallee,
sentenced Zakir, Towfiq, Ni-
zammudin and Abdul Qua-
dirto10yearsof RI.
The court also slapped
each with a fine of ``5,000.
The court acquitted 17 ac-
cused as the prosecution
was unable to prove charges
againstthem.Twoof theac-
cusedareabsconding.
MDF was founded in
Saudi Arabia by Abu Ham-
sa,35,of Hyderabadwiththe
objective of extending Isla-
mist fundamentalism to
south India. MDF reported-
ly also had links with Lash-
kar-e-Toiba, responsible for
the 26/11 terrorist strikes in
Mumbai.
4 get 10 yrs in jail
for plotting bomb
attacks in cityTIMES NEWS NETWORK
5KG EXPLOSIVES
SEIZED
The fire and rescue person-
nel have been struggling to
retrieve the body of a
cleaner who drowned when
a lorry fell into a water-
filled quarry from a height
of 300ft in Tirusulam on
Saturday. Police said 15
firemen and four divers
have been unable to re-
trieve the body which is
stuck in the drivers cabin.
Fishermandrowns
nearMahabs: A30-year-
old fisherman died after
the boat in which he went
fishing with three others
capsized near Mahabalip-
uram on Sunday. Kumaran
along with others were
fishing when the storm
rocked the boat, throwing
the three men into the sea.
The fishing net was around
Kumran’s neck and stran-
gled him. He was brought
ashore dead.
MinorfireatITfirm:A
minor fire broke out at a
software firm in Damod-
aran street, T Nagar on
Monday morning. Fire on
the second floor of the
building was result of a
short circuit. The flames
were doused in an hours
time, officials said.
Childdiesofburn
injuries: A two-year-old
child who suffered burn in-
juries last week died at the
Institute of Child Health
and Hospital for Children at
Egmore on Sunday. The
child, Harikrishnan, and
three others sustained
burns when they were trav-
elling in a lorry when a high
voltage cable came in con-
tact with the vehicle on
February 16.
METRO DIGEST
Struggle on to
recover body