Phoenix mall in Velachery is one of the area’s major developments
Picture for representation purpose
Chennai: A bustling part of Madras with the swankiest shopping and food outlets, Velachery has grown on a mammoth scale over the past few years. It is today a posh neighbourhood in the city. The erstwhile wetland with migratory birds and long grasses now has the likes of Starbucks and McDonald’s today. Builders say the place has reached saturation point.
The bells of change seemed to have rung 30 years ago when roads started cutting across the wetland. The final call came about 10 years ago when IT hubs started operations in Velachery. The place is a testimony to lost heritage. Around 30 to 35 years ago, roads were built, cutting across the marsh, which was the starting point of the degradation of Velachery, says activist Nityanand Jayaram.
He adds, “Garbage from the city started being dumped in the area and today it stands as a flood prone area.”
N. Nandakumar, president of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India (CREDAI), says that the growth of Velachery was during the golden period of IT development between 2000 and 2008. “Presently, Velachery has reached a saturation point. The land value that used to be '20 lakhs for a 2,400 sq foot plot has gone up to '2.5 crore,” he says.
Nandakumar adds that better connectivity and major IT hubs coming up in the vicinity triggered development in Velachery. Natarajan S, a resident of Bhuvaneswari Nagar in Velachery, says that despite all the development and growth, basic issues remain. “Ten years back, there was hardly a good road Roads and malls have come up now, but we still face waterlogging every monsoon. The water problems continue to be the same every day,” he says.
“The Dhandeshawarar temple is one of the remnants of old Velachery. A story goes that Lord Shiva took away the power of Yama, the Lord of death, who prayed to him at the spot where the 1,400-year-old temple is situated. Today, it’s Phoenix Mall that defines Velachery,“ says S Ramaswamy, an avid blogger from the locality.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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