New multimodal facility set to transform Broadway
The Hindu
While the Greater Chennai Corporation did a feasibility report, a few years ago, the State government asked Chennai Metro Rail to appoint a detailed design consultant
With commercial establishments, MTC buses, Chennai Metro Rail and suburban connectivity, the facade of Broadway is all set to transform with the upcoming multimodal complex.
According to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Ltd. (CMRL), this complex will comprise a bus stand, space for office complex or retail outlets, parking facilities for government buses, private vehicles and commuters. While this idea was mooted a few years ago and the Greater Chennai Corporation had done a feasibility report, once again the project had gained a fresh lease of life. Now, the State government had asked Chennai Metro Rail to appoint a detailed design consultant to do a detailed project report (DPR).
“After the consultant is appointed, they will carry out the DPR. Once the report is approved by the government, it will take about two years to finish this work,” an official said.
Officials of Greater Chennai Corporation said this had been planned in such a way that on the ground and first floor, MTC buses will be stationed, then, there will be space for parking vehicles and finally above, there may be another 7 to 10 floors for commercial establishments. The High Court Metro Rail station and Fort Railway station could be linked through a skywalk, an official said.
“It will be a hub for commuters and those living in the neighbourhood. Since CMRL has been doing lot of work for integrated development and executed it well, they were entrusted with the responsibility. The detailed design will contain how the structure will be built, how many floors, the feasibility for creating the commercial establishments such as shops or offices and how well they will do. This will provide information about how many people are likely to use the complex and the cost involved,” he said.
In 2021, five women from Mayithara, four of them MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) workers, found a common ground in their desire to create a sustainable livelihood by growing vegetables. Rajamma M., Mary Varkey, Valsala L., Elisho S., and Praseeda Sumesh, aged between 70 and 39, pooled their savings, rented a piece of land and began their collective vegetable farming journey under the Deepam Krishi group.