Housing has always remained a key element in any major industrial
development project especially because of new industries or industrial clusters
that come up way out of any City or town and it becomes incumbent on the part
of Investors to promote housing colonies in tandem to woo Staff and Employees
to the new locations. Viewed in this context, the Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR)
or Rajiv Gandhi Salai as it is now called, and the National Highway to
Bangalore has acquired great significance because of the industrial and Business
Developers in these two directions. While the roads radiating from the OMR drew
a lot of attention from realtors, the Sriperambudur and Oragadam belts became
very active both for setting up new industries and promoting housing. There was
also speculation that a Green filled International Airport would up near
Sriperambudur.
Five years on, several housing projects in these belts have not
received the reception or response as they were expected to. According to some
of the Promoters, the pricing was attractive, the plans were clean and flexible
and Bank loans were available for most of them. Some of the leading Promoters
even tied up with School and Hospitals to set up facilities in their Townships
or Colonies to add more value and woo more Buyers. Though the initial response
was good and a lot of enquiries came in, it did not translate into buying. As
such, the subsequent phases of massive projects were put on hold. This is also
true of some major projects on the G.S.T. Road upto Chingleput.
Some of them had the tag of reputed Developers. They had tied up
with Schools like Vidya Mandir, DAV, or PSBB for instance to reassure the
parents that their children were taken care by way of good schooling. Clinics,
Department Stores, Security and other basic facilities were provided. Yet, selling
has not been easy, the Promoters confess. Only their advertisement budgets have
risen and this has also to be factored in the pricing.
The industries on their part cannot force their staff to move in
to close by housing. They are forced to operate buses to ferry the Staff from
the City to the industry and back everyday. This no doubt adds to the wastage
of fuel, and pollution too, not to talk about the traffic snarls. Taking to
some of the Staff themselves, they make it clear that their family does not
want to move out to a suburb or township some 30 to 40 Km out of the city. They
cannot keep coming for everything to the City. It is easier for me to commute
everyday instead of asking their wife and children to do that. All the entertainment,
the social activity and shopping are in the City. While some children are
already entrenched in a school and they do not want to move at this stage. When
one has already acquired a two bedroom flat in Saidapet, so how or why do we
move out?
Now, even their neighbours have tried moving into a flat in OMR. But,
the entire colony was dependent on Water Lorries. The borewell water had too
much metal and mineral content, making it unfit for use. So, they decided to
get back into the City and the story goes on. Government wants to decongest the
core City. Industries have to move far away from the City to avoid polluting
the environment. Housing stock is coming up in new areas, but there are few Takers
despite the affordable pricing.
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