The childhood memories of D. Rathinavel, a marginal farmer from Kilambakkam, a village near Tambaram, consist mostly of time spent at his family’s three-acre farm land, where his parents would cultivate paddy, groundnut, brinjal, radish and greens.
Wheels of change having rolled on, and Rathinavel, 72 years old now, doesn’t witness the same enthusiasm for farming in these parts. While one grandson takes care of what is left of the farm land, two others are employed at a glassmaking unit in Sriperumbudur, near Kancheepuram.
The times have changed, but development, especially public transport, has not kept pace with it.
“Commuting has always been a challenge to residents. We are not aware of the historical importance of our village. But, we know the new terminus will benefit not just our village but many villages around ours too,” says Rathinavel.
K. Srinivasan, the village administrative officer (VAO) of Urapakkam village panchayat, agrees with him.
The Urapakkam village panchayat comprises Kilambakkam, Iravanchery and Urapakkam villages and accounts for more than one lakh people.
Farmers and daily-wage labourers constitute a majority of this population.
Kilambakkam was shortlisted for the project, says Srinivasan, at least for two reasons.
First, easy availability of open land along GST Road. Two, access to this land.
“With Urapakkam having suburban train services, long-distance train passengers can reach the new bus terminus without getting caught up in the traffic at Perungalathur,” says Srinivasan.
Prominent localities found near Kilambakkam include Manivakkam, Manimangalam, Mudichur, Padappai, Kavanoor, Kandigai, Nuthancherry, Pathuvencherry, Irumbuliyur, Sadananthapuram, Nerkundram, Vandalur and Guduvancherry.
In many of these villages, farming, involving the cultivation of paddy and groundnut, is still being practised.
Besides serving the one lakh residents of the Urapakkam village panchayat, the new terminus will also benefit students of many engineering colleges found in surrounding areas.
At present, most commuters rely on suburban train services at the Urapakkam railway station for easy and quick travel. Bus stops between Vandalur and Gunduvancherry along GST Road are almost always overcrowded with little space for commuters to wait for their buses. Much of the space meant for them has been encroached upon by hawkers — this is especially true of important bus stops in Urapakkam and Guduvancherry.
As per plan, the proposed new bus terminus in Killambakkam will host around 1,700 south-bound buses from the CMBT terminus in Koyambedu.
ASI officials said that the proposed bus terminus project can be started away from the core area in the notified limits where megalithic burial grounds have been identified.