The Outer Ring Road and the Inner Ring Road, laid by the Tamil Nadu government, have helped to decongest the city roads, besides playing a role in the development of prominent residential localities. Several localities adjacent to the city, which were inaccessible once because of narrow roads or the absence of arterial roads, have become easily accessible after these two roads were laid.
Nanganallur, Pazhavanthangal, Ullagaram-Puzhuthivakkam, Eachangadu, Sunnambu Kolathur, and Nanmangalam in southern parts of Chennai have been linked to the GST Road by the Inner Ring Road and the Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Radial Road. Several localities in the western parts of the city, including Kolathur, Ambattur, Puthagaram, Korattur, Nolambur, Maduravoyal, Iyyapanthangal, Porur, Pattabhiram, Nemillichery, and Kundrathur, have become nodal links for long-distance buses.
The Inner Ring Road was formed with the sole aim of linking the industrial corridor of Ambattur and Red Hills with Irumbuliyur. However, not many service roads were laid to link the residential colonies, except in Porur. The Outer Ring Road was formed to link the GST Road at Vandalur to GNT Road at Gummidipoondi by linking the several fast-developing residential localities with service roads and the arterial roads of Chennai-Tiruvallur High Road and Mount Poonamallee Road. The residents living in the localities near these roads highlight the absence of adequate public transport, especially Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) buses.
A busy road
The Inner Ring Road links Red Hills with Irumbuliyur. It passes through the thickly populated localities of Ambattur, the Ambattur Industrial Estate, Nolambur, Porur, and Thiruneermalai. It has become a busy road because it gives a faster access to these localities. However, residents point out that except for the service road linking Porur, the Inner Ring Road has no service roads to go to other localities.
M. Arulnathan, a resident of Nolambur, says the Chennai Metro Rail projects are being executed to link Porur and Ambattur and it will help if the MTC operates bus services on the Inner Ring Road.
The residents of the western suburbs also highlight the increasing traffic on the Outer Ring Road owing to the faster connectivity. But they are upset that there are few public bus services.
Consumer activist T. Sadagopan, who is a long-time resident of Pattabhiram, says the Highways Department, while laying the Outer Ring Road, had planned for bus stops by installing bus shelters, taking into account the future bus transport requirements, and linking the residential localities of Kundrathur, Nemillichery, and Pattabhiram through well-segregated service roads.
Terminus ready
As the Kuthambakkam bus terminus is set to be completed, a number of long-distance buses will be shifted from Koyambedu to Kuthambakkam. So, residents say MTC bus services from Ambattur to Kuthambakkam through the Outer Ring Road will help the residents of Avadi and Pattabhiram easily access the terminus.
The residents of Pattabhiram also highlight the absence of bus services linking the residential localities of Outer Ring Road and Inner Ring Road to the SRMC Hospital through Porur. Even as residents of the western suburbs point to the absence of MTC bus services, residents of south Chennai say that there are no bus services on the southern arm of the Inner Ring Road extension linking Velachery Main Road to the GST Road.
While the MTC has been operating a few services on the Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Radial Road to connect the residential localities of Keelkattalai, Sunnambu Kolathur, and Nanmangalam, the southern arm of the Inner Ring Road suffers from poor last-mile connectivity, in the form of bus services, to the residential localities of Adambakkam, Ullagaram-Puzhithivakkam, Nanganallur, and Alandur. This is despite the fact that there is the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) station at Velachery.
Raghavan, a resident of Nanganallur, points to the absence of bus services on the Inner Ring Road. Since the southern sector of the Inner Ring Road was opened in 2010, no buses have been operated from the Velachery MRTS station through the Thillai Ganga Nagar subway, connecting the Metro Rail stations of Alandur and OTA-Nanganallur Road on the GST Road, he says. Earlier, a mini-bus service was operated from the Alandur Metro Rail station (no. S-85) through Vanuvampet and Puzhuthivakkam on the Inner Ring Road to the Velachery MRTS station. However, the service was stopped after the COVID-19 lockdown.
Delay in MRTS extension
The residents say that at present one mini-bus service is being operated from the Alandur Metro Rail station to the Madipakkam bus stand (no. S-82) through Nanganallur and Moovarsanpet, but it is run at an interval of more than one hour. A new mini-bus service has been plying from the Alandur Metro Rail station to Velachery through Jayalakshmi Theatre and Adambakkam. But the frequency is limited.
The delay in the completion of the MRTS extension from Velachery to St. Thomas Mount has resulted in commuters from Nanganallur and Adambakkam depending on share-autorickshaws and autorickshaws to reach the MRTS station. The residents want regular bus services from Velachery through Inner Ring Road to Koyambedu and Kilambakkam, as it will boost connectivity among the residential areas.
Published – May 13, 2025 11:17 pm IST
