Can we make it a world-class shopping area?

Theagaroya Nagar (T’ Nagar) is today the foremost commercial hub for shopping in Chennai. It is also a major hub for intra-city bus services. Historically, it was a planned residential neighbourhood with roads and streets radiating from Panagal Park. Its adjoining regions include Teynampet, West Mambalam and Azeez Nagar, all residential areas. The area has today shed its original character and has huge stand-alone shopping centres, a variety of business establishments, accommodation providers and other commercial enterprises as well as a sizeable informal business sector leading to traffic and congestion problems.

Congestion in T’Nagar is due to land use change, rapid re-densification, unplanned public transportation systems, poor traffic circulation pattern, little pedestrian space, hawker encroachment, inadequate parking facilities as well as other environmental issues.

These issues are discussed in some detail below and a ‘Vision T Nagar’ is suggested, urging decongestion of the area through pedestrianisation, skywalks, multi-level car parking, hawker zones, feeder system and other initiatives, to make the area a world-class shopping centre.

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Until the early 1900s, Chennai’s western boundary was the villages to the west of Mount Road and the Long Tank. The Long Tank was drained in 1923. (Lake View Road exists devoid of the lake.) This marked the origin of Theagaroya Nagar or T’ Nagar (named after Sir Pitti Theagaroya Chetty, Raja of Panagal, a stalwart of the Justice Party which was then ruling Madras) and initiated the expansion of the city beyond its western limits. A residential suburb was conceived in the middle of this reclaimed land. A park was developed in the centre of this new locality and named Panagal Park.

Historically, it was a planned residential neighbourhood with roads and streets radiating from Panagal Park. Its design is believed to have been inspired from a hand. Panagal Park was the palm and the main roads radiated from the park like five fingers. The main roads were: North Usman Road, South Usman Road, Theagaroya Road, Venkatnarayana Road and G N Chetty Road, all lined with large avenue trees.

When designed, the residential plots in T’Nagar were at least eight grounds in size. Initially G N Chetty Road and Venkatnarayana Road were developed with large plot bungalows. The minimum plot size was eight grounds. The plots were divided as half acre and one acre. Later, these bungalows paved way for commercial developments. At present, there are hardly any residences that fall into this category.

Nalli’s showroom was the first prominent shop; it opened in 1928. Soon, small shops began to make a presence. In the 1930s a shopping complex was developed by Chockalinaga Mudaliar. It consisted of ten shops. This was the first bazaar in T’Nagar. He named it Pondy Bazaar.

Pondy Bazaar is named after W.P.A. Soundarapandian Nadar, the noted social activist from Pattiveeranpatti. It stretches for around a kilometre on Theagaroya Road. Pavement shopping is part of the excitement of T’Nagar. Everything from safety pins to shower curtains is available on the sidewalks.

The area around Panagal Park is known for its silk saree shops. Many prominent jewellery stores are also found here. The variety in shopping options makes T’Nagar one of the most crowded areas in Chennai during the festival seasons. Deepavali, Navaratri and Pongal bring additional congestion due to the crowds drawn by the heavy discounts and reductions offered by stores.

Ranganathan Street is a one of the busiest streets of Chennai. Till 1985 the streets off it were mostly residential. Now Ranganathan Street, once an approach to the Mambalam railway station, is closed to motor traffic as it is so crowded with shoppers hoping to buy products at heavily discounted prices.

T’Nagar had a population of 214,878 according to the 2001 census. On a typical weekend, the number of people visiting to shop in the T’Nagar area might soar to 200,000. During festival seasons, this number might reach a million. Shoppers come not only from all parts of Chennai as well as from Tamil Nadu but from all over the world with a major contribution from Sri Lanka. It is believed that close to 70-80 per cent of the gold sold in Chennai – the most important gold market in  the southern region – is in  T’Nagar. The southern region contributes approximately 45  per cent of the
800-tonne annual national offtake.

Silk saree and gold jewellery shopping has been synonymous with T’Nagar for the last 50 years. During this period, T’Nagar has evolved as the centre for silk sarees, gold jewellery and stainless steel utensils – paraphernalia of a typical Indian wedding. Today, a family can finish its entire wedding shopping with two or three visits to this central business district, as there are shops that sell everything from wedding invitation cards, jewellery and sarees to household articles.

Conversion of T’Nagar from residential neighbourhood to a shopping destination has spiralled land rates sky-high over the past 80 years. What was Rs. 200 per ground in 1930 is approximately Rs. 50,000,000 (Rs. 5 crore) per ground or approximately Rs. 20,000 per sq  ft.

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The five radial avenues all leading to one main central main space, Panagal Park, divided the area into clearly separated neighbourhoods. As T’Nagar was planned in a time when cars were a rare luxury, walkability was very important. Civic facilities, retail outlets and public parks were planned for easy access from adjacent neighbourhoods in clusters along the five main avenues. This planned residential neighbourhood has changed character very rapidly and is making way to become the Central Shopping District of Chennai. The MTC Bus Terminus and Mambalam Railway Station made T’Nagar easily accessible for everyone.

The Theagaroya bus terminus is a major one in the southern region and operates nearly 600 bus services a day that originate and terminate there. The location of the bus terminus is mutually detrimental and beneficial. The terminus attracts about 130 buses during its peak hour which in turn clogs South Usman Road and the Burkit Road-South Usman Road intersection, causing severe congestion at the current bus terminus location itself.

The impact of this is traffic congestion up to 500 m in both directions of South Usman Road as almost 50-70 per cent of road space is occupied by buses during the peak hour. There is also absence of planning for pedestrian and bus movement within and around the bus terminus and poor integration of Mambalam station and bus terminus. No  formal feeder system is available to connect the terminus with  the retail/residential areas.

The traffic from residential areas in the western regions of Chennai moves towards the business areas in the eastern and central regions of Chennai through T’Nagar. This West to East traffic is in the morning and East to West traffic in the evening. A similar pattern is observed in the North-South direction. These movements, in combination with the retail/shopping area-oriented traffic, coupled with local residential area traffic, create a mix of traffic-related problems along all the major arterials of the area. The problem is especially felt along North Usman Road, South Usman Road, G N Chetty Road, and C I T Nagar First Main Road. All the intersections along Anna Salai and  Arcot Road also get congested. Nandanam intersection, Panagal Park, Duraisamy Subway and Kodambakkam flyover are examples of the problems caused by the transit traffic.

There are hardly any pedestrian-friendly facilities in T’Nagar. Pavements have been utilised for informal shopping activities by street vendors. The lack of space for pedestrian movement because of encroachment by hawkers is an acute problem along Ranganathan Street, the western side of South Usman Road and the eastern part of Theagaroya Road. According to a hawker survey in the central area of T’Nagar, around 850 permanent street vendors can be found on its pavements.

There is an acute demand for parking. Market research has indicated that T’Nagar has 2,668,311 sq.ft. of retail space. This translates to a requirement of 2668 car slots. The parking availability in T’Nagar is only around 800 slots. About 1,400 four-wheelers and 3,000 two-wheelers park in the T’Nagar area and approximately two-thirds of these vehicles are parked in the streets.

The exponential increase in vehicles, especially in the last decade, has resulted in emission from automobiles increasing manifold. The air pollution problem in the T’Nagar area from the automobile sector is further compounded because of the availability of a very low percentage of road area in proportion to total city surface area for plying such a large automobile fleet. Other sources of air pollution include construction activities, re-suspension of road dust, and burning biomass.

T’Nagar may have grown into a very successful shopping district, but times are changing and for T’Nagar not to lose its middle class and high-end clientele to posh malls coming up elsewhere in Chennai, it is important to stay ahead of that competition. At the same time, residents of T’Nagar and neighbouring areas would welcome a more diversified range of retail and leisure developments that suits their needs and in a more inviting ‘city centre’ where they would want to spend quality time with friends and family on a regular basis.

Some of the solutions to decongest T’Nagar will be discussed next fortnight. (Courtesy: Our Building & Construction)

(To be concluded)