It is Amma 2.0 in Tamil Nadu with Jayalalithaa retaining power for a second term. Hopes are high that the government this time around, will finally focus on completing long-delayed infrastructure projects that are crucial to Chennai’s real estate sector. So which are some of the projects that the government should look at first? Here are the top 5 picks.

1) The Chennai Metro

The Chennai metro rail connecting Nehru Park to Thirumangalam, Little Mount to Airport and Alandur to St Thomas Mount is supposed to be completed by the end of the year. Once this is done, travelling to the airport from Kilpauk and Anna Nagar will become hassle-free. The government should focus on completing this first, and then follow it up by completing the 9-kilometer Phase 1 extension from Washermanpet to Wimco Nagar, in order to enhance connectivity within North Chennai.

2) 6-lane Vandalur flyover

The junction at Grand Southern Trunk road (GST) and Vandalur-Kelambakkam Road is a bottleneck for both local traffic and vehicles coming in from the southern districts. The government has plans to build a multi-lane flyover can here and should focus on getting this completed at the soonest. This will help decongest traffic and boost residential pockets in Urapakkam, Guduvanchery and Potheri.

3) Porur Flyover

This is the answer to the perennially congested junction at Mt Poonamallee and Arcot Salai. This key link flyover can provide quick access to the city for those who are working in nearby IT firms like TCG IT Park, Jayanth Tech Park and DLF IT Park. But work on the flyover has been slow and the government should take this project up on a war footing. Once the flyover is completed, pockets in West Chennai such as Porur, Maduravoyal and Mount Poonamallee are expected to see a boost in demand for homes.

4) Madhya Kailash-Siruseri Flyover

Crossing the Tidel Park junction and heading to the IT corridor on OMR has turned into a nightmarish commute for people in Chennai, thanks to the sheer amount of traffic in the region. The government should focus on building a flyover between Madhya Kailash and Siruseri. This will help decongest traffic and give a boost to the housing markets of Shollinganallur, Perungudi and the Pallavaram – Thoraipakkam Radial Road.

5) Upgrade Existing Roads

A month before the elections, local authorities did a shoddy job of paving existing roads, covering storm-water drains and flouting all norms. The older bitumen layers from the roads were not scraped off and as a result, these roads have grown taller by several inches and were uneven in places. The monsoon season is almost upon us and the government needs to buck up and immediately upgrade arterial roads in the city especially in those pockets which saw the worst of the disastrous December floods.

Reporter : Smitha TK
Web Editor : Nikhil Narayan Sivadas