CHENNAI:
Brushing aside the growing resentment about converting the sea-looking Foreshore
Estate in Chennai to residential and commercial space, the Tamil Nadu Housing
Board (THB) has floated tenders to appoint a consultant to prepare a detailed
project report for redevelopment of the Estate into a residential colony.
The Board plans to construct 2,600 flats in multi-storied residential complexes at Foreshore Estate, overlooking the famous Marina beach. In the first phase, 1,610 flats will be constructed on 21.03 acres and in the second phase, construction of 990 flats will be taken up on 6.49 acres. To develop the second phase, 268 existing flats will have to be vacated and razed, according to a Times of India report.
The Board had evicted more than 1,000 families from the Foreshore Estate two years ago to facilitate the redevelopment. The old buildings, promoted in the 1960s, were in a dilapidated condition and were pulled down to avert a disaster.
The consultant, apart from responsible for marketing strategy of the project, will also have to do the structural design of the building in line with the ‘seismic zoning’ of the area.
Facilities like fire fighting, safety devices, public address, access control, telephone exchange, communication tower, water supply, furnishing fit out, sewerage disposal and treatment plants, internal roads and arrangements for special security system will be available on the premises once it is redeveloped.
Five types of apartments will be constructed in the first phase. "We will construct 30 houses each with 1,800 sq ft and 250 houses each with an area of 1,440 sq ft," a senior TNHB official said. Another 200 houses will have an area of 1,080 sq ft each. In the low-end segments, 680 apartments will measure 780 sq ft each and 450 apartments will measure 648 sq ft each.
The earlier tenants of the housing board apartments would be given preferential allotment, said sources.
The Board plans to construct 2,600 flats in multi-storied residential complexes at Foreshore Estate, overlooking the famous Marina beach. In the first phase, 1,610 flats will be constructed on 21.03 acres and in the second phase, construction of 990 flats will be taken up on 6.49 acres. To develop the second phase, 268 existing flats will have to be vacated and razed, according to a Times of India report.
The Board had evicted more than 1,000 families from the Foreshore Estate two years ago to facilitate the redevelopment. The old buildings, promoted in the 1960s, were in a dilapidated condition and were pulled down to avert a disaster.
The consultant, apart from responsible for marketing strategy of the project, will also have to do the structural design of the building in line with the ‘seismic zoning’ of the area.
Facilities like fire fighting, safety devices, public address, access control, telephone exchange, communication tower, water supply, furnishing fit out, sewerage disposal and treatment plants, internal roads and arrangements for special security system will be available on the premises once it is redeveloped.
Five types of apartments will be constructed in the first phase. "We will construct 30 houses each with 1,800 sq ft and 250 houses each with an area of 1,440 sq ft," a senior TNHB official said. Another 200 houses will have an area of 1,080 sq ft each. In the low-end segments, 680 apartments will measure 780 sq ft each and 450 apartments will measure 648 sq ft each.
The earlier tenants of the housing board apartments would be given preferential allotment, said sources.
On opposite side
Earlier, the state's plan to commercialise a portion of the Foreshore Estate
and Srinivasapuram areas off Marina coast ran into stiff opposition from
city-based activists and representatives of fishing community, alleging
government’s attempt to eliminate fishing community from coastal areas.
The state government with the support of Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure
Finance Services Limited (TNUIFSL) had prepared a conceptual plan for the
integrated development of Foreshore Estate and Srinivasapuram last year. The
plan is to create housing on 23 acres of land by both Slum Clearance Board
(TNSCB) and Housing Board (TNHB) and use the remaining 27 acres for commercial
purposes.
At present, a part of the land is occupied by slums and old
dilapidated tenements/apartments (partly demolished). According to K Saravanan, an RTI activist and resident of Orur Kuppam, the
redevelopment plan was only a bid to remove the fishing community from the
coast. "There are more than 7,000 families and a majority of them — of
fishing community — staying in the Foreshore Estate and Srinivasapuram have
been identified as encroachers. If the government can allot 27 acres for
commercial ventures, why can't the same land be taken for the accommodation of
the poor?" he asked.
MG Devasahayam, founder-trustee, SUSTAIN, said the government should not
destroy the coastal line by allowing construction of high-rise building. These
kind of plans must be considered by the statutory bodies like CMDA or local
body, not by private-sector promotional agencies. He released a report Robbing the Poor: Slum Housing and the Elite
Environmentalism of Adyar Poonga at Besant Nagar.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/2600-new-flats-to-come-up-at-Foreshore-Estate/articleshow/11561200.cms
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