Readers of this column would attest to the fact that it more often than not reads like a dirge of the sorry state of affairs concerning issues affecting the people of our city and the state. This piece is however going to be a departure from the routine and seeks to introduce the readers to a series that the magazine proposes to feature, commemorating one of the most prominent localities of the city today, T Nagar.
Why single out a locality in our city, when there are ones which are of older vintage? And why now? These are two important questions that we must address, before delving further. While it is an undeniable fact that there are several neighbourhoods that far pre-date the city itself, the development of T Nagar marks a watershed moment in town planning in our state, for it was an initiative that was the first major effort by the government and the Corporation to address the housing shortage in the city. The origins of this initiative begin with the drawing of the Mambalam Scheme by the Madras City and Suburban Town Planning Trust, a body constituted pursuant to the Madras Town Planning Act, 1920. This scheme would, over the next two decades, gradually take shape to give the broad contours of the locality as we know it today. Without going into the specific timelines of its various milestones, it can be safely said that this decade thus marks the centenary of this pioneering effort, making it an appropriate juncture to reflect on its origins and journey.
The scheme was nearly a non-starter, for having been proposed by the Town Planning Trust in 1923, it was not sanctioned by the Government on the grounds that the Trust had no funds for the purpose. It was therefore decided to transfer its execution to the Corporation of Madras, which took up the responsibility of around 600 acres. The Corporation’s plan, which was largely based on the proposals of the Trust, was sanctioned in February 1925. One significant modification made from the original plan was the provision of a number of smaller houses on sites of one ground each. This was chiefly necessitated on account of the fact that though the scheme was intended to cater primarily to the middle-class population, it had by its design invited criticisms that it benefited the richer class. While recollecting the origins, it has to be pointed out that one cannot gloss over the fact that the entire exercise involved draining of the Mylapore and Nungambakkam Tanks, setting an unhealthy precedent for similar acts to follow. The problems arising out of conversion of water bodies into real estate in our city have been well-documented and we repeatedly keep making the same mistake and paying the price for it.
The transition of the neighbourhood from what it originally was to what it is today has brought along several civic issues which continue to plague it to this day. In fact, subsequent developments have shown that it has gone against almost every single restriction envisaged in the original scheme. Particular mention needs to be made of a green belt that was proposed, bordering the tank bund (in today’s context, the area that is the entry point to T Nagar, just as one crosses Mount Road, stretching from Teynampet to Venkatanarayana Road), as it was low lying and hence found desirable “to preserve the area as an emergency storm water channel at times of excessive rainfall”. The regular flooding episodes that these roads and localities face stand as reminders of the perils of not having heeded the warnings.
So what does this feature propose to document? While it is a well-known fact that several of the roads commemorate officials of the Corporation of Madras and the leaders of the Justice Party whose government was in power at the time the scheme was executed, not much is known about their lives or careers, which this feature hopes to bring to light. Even less is known about roads named after local residents, who may have been people of accomplishments in their chosen field. While recognising that the entire exercise would be a painstaking one, with materials available being scarce in most cases, it is hoped that the effort would encourage more dedicated research into the history of the area and more locality-centric documentation of the city.
We however start this series with a brief profile of the man who, by virtue of being the Director of Town Planning, was an active participant in the entire scheme, Reginald Dann.
(See Article: “Reginald Dann – One of the earliest Directors of Town Planning” for further details)