Old Mahabalipuram Road (IT Corridor) Born 2001; Died 2011;

A letter to the honorable Chief Minister

Dear Madam,
As an IT employee and a responsible citizen I would like to bring the condition of the ‘IT corridor’ (OMR or Rajiv Gandhi Salai) to your kind attention. Your announcement about the phase 2 of IT corridor between Siruseri and Mahabalipuram has brought in lot of cheers but little was the realization that the phase 1 of this road is still far from over. This road though conceived in 2001 was completely only in 2008 post several cost revisions and escalations. But 3 years after the inauguration of the main carriageway the service lane under the phase 1 is still not complete. The problems due to non completion of service lane are as follows:

1. Due to non completion of service lanes, the 3rd lane on either side of this road is occupied by vehicles for parking. This leaves just 2 lanes on either side & this affects the free flow of traffic.



2. There are no pedestrian paths and no there are no bus stops/bays. Commuters have to stand on the road under the sun and when it rains it becomes all the more difficult.



3. Due to non availability of storm water drainage along the service lanes, there are water logging problems. There was heavy flooding in Semmencherry just outside the Tata Consultancy office (TCS) and Thoraipakkam areas due to recent heavy showers.



4. Vehicles wanting to use service lanes use main carriage way and come in opposite direction.


5. The IT companies on this road employ around 1.25 lac employees however these companies depends upon water tanker lorries to meet the daily drinking water requirement. In the year 2010 when tanker lorries stopped supplying water for some time, few companies even shuttered their doors and evoked DRP (Disaster recovery plan). The then Deputy Chief minister Mr. Stalin promised to complete the metro water pipeline along the service lane by December 2010 but there was literally no progress after that.
   
   There seems to be no co-ordination between metro water, CWSSB, TNRDC and the local panchayats for completion of service lanes as they keep blaming each other for the delay in construction. TNRDC cancelled the contractor few times in the past citing design faults but every time the new contractor comes, there is no change in the speed of execution.
   

Apart from the issues concerning service lanes, there are other problems plaguing IT corridor which needs your immediate attention:
1. Cattles day out: Cows, buffaloes, goats and dogs has a free run in the IT corridor. These animals sleep, gaze on this road, sometimes jump over the median. If unchecked, a disaster is sure waiting to happen. The stretch between Sholinganallur and Siruseri is the most vulnerable.
2. IT corridor touches lot of village panchayats. The road is not properly cleaned and there are large amount of garbage lying around, along this road. The heaps of garbage on the one of the most prestigious road not only create a health hazard but also create a third world look among the investor community.
3. The five flyovers/grade separators announced in the assembly never took off. It takes nearly 20 minutes to cross the Sholinganallur junction during peak hours. Similar is the case in Tidel park junction, MGR salai junction etc. It’s all the more surprising to note about the non inclusion of this corridor in the monorail & metro rail plan.
4. The interior roads branching out of OMR/IT corridor is in very bad shape. Formation of IT corridor ensured horizontal growth but these developments were not supported or backed up by proportionate infrastructure development in the suburbs. When Chennai city got expanded the places beyond Semmencherry like Navalur, Siruseri, Padur were not included in the city limit surprisingly.
5. There is no clear lane marking on the carriage way & there is no lane discipline followed. More policing and better traffic monitoring will ensure people follow lane discipline and don’t jump signal.

I have great respect and trust on your government and your administrative style. Since this road is your brain child, I believe some action will be taken on war footing basis. Tamilnadu do not require any more IT policy as it has already established itself in the IT industry. The completion of this corridor and proper maintenance will influence the investor fraternity and this road can act catalyst for all future developments. Our government’s commitment to physical infrastructure will automatically ensure all around development.