From: prem@cs.montana.edu (M.P.Premkumar)
Subject: Re: Planning of Madras city
Organization: Dept. of Computer Science, MSU, Bozeman Mt 59717
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 22:45:39 GMT

In article <l8hhcrINNnb1@aludra.usc.edu> nagabhus@aludra.usc.edu (Vasuki N) writes:
>
>	It is surprising that Madras being one of the biggest cities in India
>does not have planned growth of the city. Just adjacent to the "municipal
>definition of Madras city" , we have so many new localities which were
>developed and sold by the local municipal panchayats, who had no idea,
>what the requirements of a big city are. People should urge the responsible
>persons to form a planning body and structly enforce it. Otherwise, fewer
>new industries would be attracted to Madras city. Fortunately, since Madras
>also has train services, these new planned developments could be developed
>along the train route, which will lessen the road congestion. Also, the
>developents along the beautiful beach route to Mammalapuram should be 
>regulated in	
>in the general public interests. It will also bring additional revenue
>in terms of tourist trade. More than anything else, for the bebefit
>of all, Madras should strictly adopt planning strategies to control
>the future developement of the city.
>
>Anybody from Madras ?, what do you feel ?

As a born and bred Madrasvaasi I fully realise the problems of the city of 
Madras.One of the primary problems is our government and our beloved politicians
Whatever actions are taken in the right direction are more are less successfully
scuttled by the narrow minded politicians. 

The other major problem is the influx of people from the villages who eventually
end up in the slums(kuppams). I have talked to many people in the slums and 
found many of them came to Madras from villages hoping to get a job and earn
good money. If you have gone to the Marina or Santhome beaches you can see the
swarm of "sundal boys". 90% of them have come from the villages. They earn in
the range of 10 rupees a day. They don't intend to go back to the villages and 
would like to live in the city hoping for the ever eluding good city life. I 
could very well imagine these boys growing into adults, getting married and 
bearing children, who would once again grow up in the slums. I am just giving
a sample of the budgeoning slums problem. In no time we would surely see the 
likes of Bombay slums in Madras. In the future it is going to be a big head ache
for the city. I am not against people coming to the cities in search of better
life but as far as I know such people(not the ones who come because they have a
job or who come to study) end up living a much worser life than what they could
in the villages. I think the government should educate the people about such
things and discourage such migration(which I think the government will never do)

One other problem in Madras is our roads. Here again politics and bureacratic 
red tape are the culprits. The contracts are awarded to contracters who give
the lowest bid(and bribe the necessary people) and the poorest quality. Only
some important roads are exempt to this tradition. Our corporation bought a
German road laying machine which did a wonderful job but soon it's usage was
stopped. It was supposed to have been more costly(given our efficient 
corporation and sticking to time schedules). If only our government comes out
of corruption and takes this issue seriouly then we can see more good roads.

In one aspect I believe our MMDA is doing a good job. The building of high rise 
buildings are discouraged and even if allowed a limit on the number of floors
is imposed. Also they discourage bland designs and encourage builders to build
more attractive buildings. Though some times these things are violated mostly
MMDA sticks to it's policies regarding this.

Also one forgets that Madras is one of the oldest cities in India and the core
of the city consists of old houses and narrow streets. Areas like Mylapore,
Mandaveli, Mambalam, Paris, Purasawalkam, Tondiarpettai, Saidapettai etc. are 
all old and hence have old houses and narrow roads. But if we see the newly
built localities like Besant Nagar, Anna Nagar, KK Nagar etc. the spacing and
style of buildings are better and the roads more broad. 

The other major problem in Madras is drainage. During the rainy season(for that
matter even for small rains) Madras looks shabby. Proper drainage is not there
in most of the parts of Madras. Still in some areas we have open drainage which
in turn leads to the mosquito population. I think this problem would be solved
but the question is the time that will be taken by our "efficient" govt. to do
that.

Last but not the least, the Cooum which flows through Madras is one culprit that
spoils the beauty and the atmosphere of Madras. This is interconnected with the
sewage problem. Many governments have coem and gone but the fragrance of Cooum
still haunts the city. Some proposals have been put forward(I could remember one
by IIT Madras) but as usual our govt.'s inertia saw to that nothing was done.
Either water should be run constantly through the river or it should be closed.
One short term and relatively simple thing to do is discontinuing the practice
of dumping sewage and garbage into it.

The MRTS project was started in 1981 and was supposed to have been completed
by 1983-84. It has been dragged on and on for 11 years now and the only 
development is the increase in cost due to the delay. Here and there some 
structures have been put up and that's all. I hope they finish it soon as that
will ease the road traffic inside the heart of the city.

Easier said than done eh ? Yes all these efforts have to be done by the govt.
and the corporation. But the important effort lies with the people. People 
should question every wrong decision and fight for the development of the city.
In the past that has not been the case and the govt. went scot free. But there
are signs of awareness among the public. With the help of the press it is still
possible to create such awareness.

"namakenna pOchu namakenna pOchunnu paatha
 naaLaikku namakkE oNNum irukkaathu"


Sincerely yours,
M.P.Premkumar
Newsgroups: soc.culture.tamil