The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : "Review decision on satellite town"

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 07, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

"Review decision on satellite town"

Staff Reporter

Builders Association of India's plea Builders Association of India says government-planned layouts have proved far better than private sector developed areas

CHENNAI : The State unit of the Builders Association of India has appealed to the State Government to reconsider its decision on the proposed satellite town near Vandalur.

At a press meet organised in the city on Wednesday, the association's Tamil Nadu chapter office-bearers and past members said Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi had shown an "exemplary vision" in announcing the proposal to create a satellite town but were shocked when the proposal was dropped immediately.

Chennai chapter chairman L.Moorthi said: "The layouts, which have been developed entirely by private sector, such as Nanganallur, Alwarthiru Nagar and Valasaravakkam, have been disastrous in terms of infrastructure. This is why the Government proposal was welcome. But it is disappointing that the proposal has been dropped."

The builders also pointed out that land acquisition was inevitable for development. The association's former national president R. Radhakrishnan said several cities in the country had successfully developed satellite towns and only Chennai was lagging behind. "New Delhi has Noida, Mumbai has Navee Mumbai ... If we fail to create satellite towns now, in 20 years this city will become unliveable. We must approach the project with a positive mindset."

The association members also asked if there was a guarantee that the lands under cultivation today would remain so in the years to come. "Will it be agreeable to all if the Government were to issue an order saying all cultivable land must be used only for agriculture," they asked.

Schedule of rates

The office-bearers told reporters that the recently released schedule of rates for procurement of building materials for Government projects was not in tune with market rates. They said the mismatch could slowdown Government's construction activities, as no contractor would be willing to even apply for the bids.

Mr. Moorthi pointed out that there were already no bidders for several Corporation and PWD projects that involve brickwork. The price of bricks, jelly and cement were particularly under-quoted. "We would blame the officials and not the Government for the misgiving," he added.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu