This is not to dissuade anyone to buy home in Chennai. But
the fact is the fact! Chennai is among the top real estate destinations in
India. The prices of properties, both within and outside the city, are steadily
going up irrespective of the fact that some of the pin codes still to have
basic facilities like black-top roads, clean drinking water, clog-free drainage
network and reliable power supply.
As an added bonus, people’s most cherished homes and swanky cars
can go under water during the monsoon season aided by depressions in Bay of
Bengal. One can imagine the plights of the residents residing in city’s fringe
areas, who had spent fortune to own a home there.
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| Scenic Chennai outskirts are under the thick cover of flood water |
They have only houses sans basic amenities - No roads, no
sewage and water connections, poor transportation facility, unsafe and
unhealthy surroundings, lack of security and utility services like bank, post
office, ATMs hospital, etc, and the list just goes on and on. But the real
estate prices in these areas are touching the roofs making the salaried class
to only day-dream of having a home in Chennai.
But is it worth
owning a home in Chennai?
The recent rains brought by a depressed in Bay-of-Bengal and
its aftermath flood inundating the so-called posh areas of Chennai and most
sought-after areas in the city outskirts have opened up the floodgates of
debates again among the denizens that whether or not the city is a megapolis,
which is ill-prepared to withstand a few hours of rainfall.
Most of the areas having very high real estate value like
Velacherry, Kotturpuram, Anna Nagar, Mugappair, KK Nagar, Ashok Nagar, Porur,
Kolathur, Kodambakkam, Valarasavakkam, T-Nagar, to name a few, have been
inundated with knee-deep to hip-level water while the entire world witnessed
what has happed to the residents of West Tambaram, where water entered houses
and remained there for more than a week. More than 100 people lost their lives
in the state and properties worth crores have been lost. One could only see the
top of the parked cars on the roadsides in several ‘posh’ areas.
Thambaram-Mudichhur high-way was completely invisible, and
areas on both sides looked like a huge lake dotted with partly submerged
buildings. Residents remained indoors for days as rescue and relief operations
were selective and lackadaisical, allege residents.
Why the areas of West Tambaram, which have not seen such
floods over several years, gone under water, making the residents to use of boats
to reach various places to meet their daily needs? Rain water got mixed with
drainage in several areas and people had horrific experience in finding food
and answering nature’s call.
Some of the residents allege that real estate sharks, to
sell a chunk of their land in low level areas, had illegally changed the course
of the rain water flow in West Tambaram which had resulted in flooding in other
nearby residential colonies. Several of the water bodies in and around the
cities have been usurped by illegal residential colonies, which resulted in
flooding in adjoining areas.
Take for example, Alappakkam near Valasaravakkam, which had
a huge lake, now became a full-fledged residential area. So, whenever, Porur or
Chembrambakkam reservoir overflows, excess water instead of coming into the
Alappakkam Lake, now inundates adjoining areas in Virugambakkam, says real
estate experts.
Same holds true for areas around Kattupakkam, Kolathur and
Madipakkam. Shocking it may be, but as per a recent report in a leading daily,
the Porur Lake in West Chennai, whose original area was around 800 acre, has
shrunk to a meager 200 acre now, thanks to the overwhelming illegal
constructions under the aegis of some political powers and real estate sharks.
So, no one is sure whether one area is safer than other in
Chennai. May be this time an area would have been spared from flood, but may
not be the next time, thanks to the intelligent planning of officials which
lacks farsightedness and wide-spread illegal construction activities by
unscrupulous real estate companies.
Another issue in Chennai is the mindless practice of
re-laying of roads by the Corporation. Instead of ‘milling’ the road to remove
the old asphalt and then re-lay the road, they lay the fresh aggregate on the
old road itself, thereby increasing the road’s level by two to four inches
every time. This makes the houses on the either side of the road dwarf in few
years making them vulnerable to floods.
The construction of ambitious rain water drains, which had started
way back in 2011, has not seen its light yet, despite spending fortune on the
project. In many areas, flood water entered due to incomplete drain works.
Roads have to be cut to drain out the excess water in several areas. Almost all
roads in Chennai have been affected due to the recent rain, and to repair or
relay them, the government needs huge funding and man power.
This year’s flood is not a “once-in-blue-moon affair for
Chennaiites. They are used to such conditions and have been suffering for
years. It was in 2005, 2008, 2009, 2011 and then now in 2015. Every time,
precious lives lost, crores worth properties perished, but no lesson learnt.
So, no prize for guessing,
whether owing a home in Chennai is a boon or a bane?
The article also appeared on Merinews.com.
