Pallikaranai is a neighborhood and a residential area in south
Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...
, India. Located in proximity to the IT industry in
Old Mahabalipuram Road
State Highway 49A (SH-49A) also known as Rajiv Gandhi Salai and Rajiv Gandhi IT Expressway or just IT Expressway is a major road connecting Chennai, Tamil Nadu with Mahabalipuram in Chengalpattu district, Tamil Nadu. It is 45 km long and ...
, Chennai's central business districts and the automobile hub in GST road has attracted more population to Pallikaranai in the 2000s. Pallikaranai became a part of the
Chennai Corporation
The Greater Chennai Corporation, formerly known as the Corporation of Madras (1688-1996) and Corporation of Chennai (1996-2016), is the civic body that governs the city of Chennai in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of T ...
in July 2011.
Pallikaranai place surrounded by various natural lands, water resources ponds, lakes and different varieties of birds.
According to a 2012 report by global property consultant Knight Frank, the neighborhood has emerged as India's 11th largest destination for investment in the residential real estate, in the list of 13-top residential destinations in the country from an investment point of view, where housing prices are expected to increase by 93 percent over the period 2012–2017.
Demographics
India
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
, Pallikaranai had a population of 22,503. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Pallikaranai has an average literacy rate of 74%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 80%, and female literacy is 67%. In Pallikaranai, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age. Pallikaranai area contains several water bodies and many lakes and is also the home for the reputed National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), which is the real technical arm under Govt of India. This institute has developed In-house Desalination Plant at Kavaratti under Mr Robert Singh and Dr Kathiroli. There are also many temples, parks and schools. In July 2011, Pallikaranai was joined with the Corporation of Chennai. A central grant for sewage system construction in Pallikaranai is awarded to State Government of Tamil Nadu under JnNURM scheme for which the tender and construction is expected to complete by February 2013. The effectiveness of the new sewage scheme is still in question due to the substandard contract approvals and usage of low quality construction materials. Most of the streets report damages to the underground laid sewage clay pipes and soil sinking. Way back from the start of project in 2009, most of the street roads in Pallikaranai are damaged for laying sewage pipes and then left untarred causing inconvenience for transportation.
Location
Pallikaranai is surrounded by
Madipakkam in the northwest,
Velachery in the north,
Perungudi
Perungudi is a neighbourhood of Chennai in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is situated about south of Adyar. It is bordered on two sides by the Old Mahabalipuram Road and the Perungudi lake. It is situated on the Old Mahabalipuram IT Expr ...
in the northeast, Kovilambakkam in the west,
Thuraipakkam
Thoraipakkam (Tamil: துரைப்பாக்கம்) also spelt Thuraipakkam, also known as Okkiyam Thuraipakkam or Oggiyamduraipakkam, is an area of Chennai, India. It is one of the stops on what is called as the IT expressway, on Ol ...
in the east, Nanmangalam in southwest,
Medavakkam
Medavakkam is a southern suburb of Chennai in Tambaram taluk of Chengalpattu district, which is adjacent to the neighbourhood of Sholinganallur, Madipakkam, Selaiyur, Keelkattalai, Velachery and Tambaram and it is center place to the develop ...
in the south and
Karapakkam
Karapakkam is an area of Chennai, in Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the stops on the Old Mahabalipuram Road, or commonly referred to as OMR. It is situated between the IT Hubs of Thoraipakkam and Sholinganallur. It is parallel to Injambakkam ...
in the southeast on ECR. It is part of Chennai from year 2012 which has 3 wards, 189,190 and 191 under zone 14.
ward 189 has Sree Balaji Dental college and Jerusalem Engineering College.
ward 191 has Asan memorial college, St. Johns Memorial college, Bethotal School, Holley Bells in Saiganesh Nagar.
Location in context
Chennai monorail-Pallikaranai
The Chennai monorail, which is in planning stage is likely to have a station in Pallikaranai in the Velachery-Vandalur route
Pallikaranai Marsh
Pallikaranai wetland
Pallikaranai wetland is a freshwater marsh in the city of Chennai, India. It is situated adjacent to the Bay of Bengal, about south of the city centre, and has a geographical area of . Pallikaranai marshland is the only surviving wetland ecos ...
is a fresh water swamp adjacent to the
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...
situated in south
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
with a geographical area of 80 km
2. In 2007, a major portion of the Pallikaranai marshland was declared a
reserve forest
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...
area and brought under the Tambaram range of the Forest department. The swamp is helpful in charging the aquifers of the region. It is one of the last few remaining natural ecosystems in the city of Chennai. Pallikaranai is a vast, marshy area bounded by
-
Velachery in north
-
Medavakkam
Medavakkam is a southern suburb of Chennai in Tambaram taluk of Chengalpattu district, which is adjacent to the neighbourhood of Sholinganallur, Madipakkam, Selaiyur, Keelkattalai, Velachery and Tambaram and it is center place to the develop ...
in south
-Kovilambakkam in west and
-Okkiyampettai
Thuraipakkam
Thoraipakkam (Tamil: துரைப்பாக்கம்) also spelt Thuraipakkam, also known as Okkiyam Thuraipakkam or Oggiyamduraipakkam, is an area of Chennai, India. It is one of the stops on what is called as the IT expressway, on Ol ...
in east
The swamp is helpful in charging the aquifers of the region. This blessing in fact has become a curse to the local residents. There are many unauthorized, private water supply companies like VVK, JK, RKS, Balaji water packaging etc., backed by politicians, counselor and government officials who pumps out gallons of water from wells and bores from the swamp surrounding like Ambal Nagar for commercial distribution within the city limits branding it as drinking water. The untreated water is being pumped out from abandoned wells filled with filth and then filled in tankers or cans for distribution. Many representations have been made by residents to officials like Chennai Mayor, CM, Kancheepuram Collector and even to local police for which no action has been taken so far. This unattended issue is causing many water borne diseases in the locality and deaths in Pallikaranai. See: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/article3859667.ece
Transportation
Air
The nearest airport of Pallikaranai is
Chennai International Airport
Chennai International Airport is an international airport serving the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu and its metropolitan area. It is located in Tirusulam, southwest of the city centre. Chennai International Airport is the sixth busiest air ...
near
Meenambakkam
Meenambakkam is a southern neighbourhood of Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is home to Chennai International Airport, the Airports Authority of India regional office, and the DGQA Complex. It was under the reign of the Pallava kin ...
which is at a distance of ~13.5 km. The shortest way to reach Pallikaranai is by using the Velachery Main Road. The other two ways are to go via Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Radial Road. MTC buses also ply on this route, but you have to break the journey and change buses.
Road
Roads on both the sides are largely encroached and sight of seeing cattle on roads is very common and there has been a lot of accidents happened and no action taken by corporation or police yet. Pallikaranai has connectivity to various parts of the city.
There are two arterial roads: Velachery Main Road, connects Tambaram, Solinganallur and Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Radial Road.
The Rs. 38.5 crore ROB in Tambaram completed in March 2009 and the Rs. 13.2 crore grade separator at Pallikaranai
The grade separator in Pallikaranai at the intersection of Velachery Main Road and Pallavaram - Thoraipakkam Radial Road has been completed and has helped in reducing traffic. The Minister would be taking part in a function in Tambaram on that day and he would lay the foundation for a road overbridge at Tambaram and for the Pallikaranai grade separator. While the bridge at Tambaram is estimated to cost Rs. 34 crore, Rs. 14 crore is to be spent on the Pallikaranai grade separator as on 2010. The State Highways Minister, Mr. Saminathan announced the construction of this project in February after an inspection of Pallikaranai, where work on minor bridges was in progress.
As per the design, vehicles towards Pallikaranai and Velachery would ply on the bridge, while motorists proceeding to Pallavaram and Thoraipakkam would be using the road beneath, according to senior engineers of the Highways Department.
CMDA master plan
There is CMDA master plan for to develop outer ring road 200 feet, medavakkam to karapakkam (OMR) via jalladianpet and pallikaranai. some of the area in pallikaranai, Sri Ganapathy Nagar (Syndicate) Colony, sai ganesh nagar, jaya anjaneyanagar and jalladianpet's area will be connected in this road to OMR.
https://web.archive.org/web/20120208092938/http://www.cmdamaps.tn.nic.in/ in this website, get map, of masterplan land use for pallikaranai, jalladianpettai,(st thomas mount taluka) karapakkam, medavakkam.
Flora and fauna
The topography of the swamp is such that it always retains some storage, thus forming an
aquatic ecosystem
An aquatic ecosystem is an ecosystem formed by surrounding a body of water, in contrast to land-based terrestrial ecosystems. Aquatic ecosystems contain communities of organisms that are dependent on each other and on their environment. The tw ...
. It has been a home for naturally occurring plants (61 species), fish (50 species), birds (106 species), butterflies (7 species), reptiles (21 species) and some exotic floating vegetation such as
water hyacinth
''Pontederia crassipes'' (formerly ''Eichhornia crassipes''), commonly known as common water hyacinth is an aquatic plant native to South America, naturalized throughout the world, and often invasive outside its native range.[water lettuce
''Pistia'' is a genus of aquatic plants in the arum family, Araceae. It is the sole genus in the tribe ''Pistieae'' which reflects its systematic isolation within the family. The single species it comprises, ''Pistia stratiotes'', is often cal ...]
, which are less extensive now and highly localized.
Recent reports of the appearance of the
white-spotted supple skink
The white-spotted supple skink (''Riopa albopunctata'') is a species of diurnal, terrestrial, insectivorous skink found in parts of tropical Asia. This species was first described by John Edward Gray based on type specimen collected by T. C. Je ...
, for the first time in
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
, and
Russell's viper
Russell's viper (''Daboia russelii''), is a venomous snake in the family Viperidae native to the Indian subcontinent and one of the big four snakes in India. It was described in 1797 by George Shaw and Frederick Polydore Nodder, and named af ...
, the largest and the most widespread among Asian vipers, confirm its invaluable ecological status. Fish such as
Dwarf gourami
The dwarf gourami (''Trichogaster lalius'') is a species of gourami native to South Asia.
Distribution and habitat
The dwarf gourami is native to Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. However, it has also been widely distributed outside of its native ...
and
Chromides that are widely bred and traded worldwide for aquaria, occur naturally in Pallikaranai. Besides, the
Windowpane oyster
The windowpane oyster (''Placuna placenta'') is a bivalve marine mollusk in the family of Placunidae. They are edible, but valued more for their shells (and the rather small pearls). The shells have been used for thousands of years as a glass su ...
,
Mud crab
Mud crab may refer to any crab that lives in or near mud, such as:
*''Scylla serrata''
*''Scylla tranquebarica''
*''Scylla paramamosain''
*''Scylla olivacea''
*Members of the family Panopeidae, such as ''Panopeus herbstii''
*Members of the family ...
,
Mullet,
Halfbeak
Hemiramphidae is a family of fishes that are commonly called halfbeaks, spipe fish or spipefish. They are a geographically widespread and numerically abundant family of epipelagic fish inhabiting warm waters around the world. The halfbeaks are ...
and
Green chromide
The green chromide (''Etroplus suratensis'') is a species of cichlid fish that is native to fresh and brackish water habitats in some parts in India such as Kerala, Goa, Chilika Lake in Odisha and Sri Lanka. The species was first described by Ma ...
are some of the estuarine fauna present in the marsh.
Environment
Dumping of
solid waste
Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste, ...
, discharge of
sewage
Sewage (or domestic sewage, domestic wastewater, municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is typically transported through a sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged from residenc ...
, construction of buildings, construction of a railway station and a new road to connect old Mahabhalipuram road and Pallavaram are causing the Pallikaranai
marsh
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...
to shrink.
Cognizant
Cognizant is an American multinational information technology services and consulting company. It is headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, United States. Cognizant is part of the NASDAQ-100 and trades under CTSH. It was founded as an in-hous ...
Chennai is located here now.
![Cognizant at Pallikaranai](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Cognizant_at_Pallikaranai.jpg)
A major portion of the Pallikaranai marshland in south Chennai has been declared a
reserve forest
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...
area and brought under the Tambaram range of the Forest department, according to a draft notification issued on 9 April 2007.
The notification says: "The proposal of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests sent in his letter for publication of the notification under Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Forest Act, 1882 is approved".
Senior department officials said a special
tahsildar
In India and Pakistan, a Tehsildar or Mamlatdar is a tax officer accompanied by revenue inspectors. They are in charge of obtaining taxes from a tehsil with regard to land revenue. A tehsildar is also known as an executive magistrate of the relev ...
had been appointed to specify the boundaries and the extent of the marshland to be brought under their control. From now on, it would be known as ''`Pallikaranai Swamp Forest Block.
They said of the marshland had been classified as reserve forest area.
Earlier, it was classified under the Revenue records of the Kancheepuram district administration. For several years, nature lovers, environmentalists and civic groups had been pressing for protecting the area, as it was a natural habitat with rich flora and fauna.
With the department taking over the marshland, it would be possible to take stringent action against trespassers and those dumping and burning garbage there, the officials said. Provisions of the Tamil Nadu Forest Act and Wildlife Protection Act could be invoked against them. Pallikaranai is the 17th reserve forest area in the Tambaram Range, whose reserve forest area goes up to .
The Union Environment Ministry is considering the approval of an
adaptive management
Adaptive management, also known as adaptive resource management or adaptive environmental assessment and management, is a structured, iterative process of robust decision making in the face of uncertainty, with an aim to reducing uncertainty over ...
plan for the Pallikaranai marshland.
Finally, a plan to save Pallikaranai marsh
/ref>
Famous temples
There are many famous temples in Pallikaranai, with visitors from all parts of the city. Arulmigu Annai Adhiparasakthi Temple / Mandira Paavai Temple https://web.archive.org/web/20101007085846/http://omgaarasakthi.org/, Senghazlini amman temple, Sri Nagathamman Kovil, Lakshmi Narayana Perumal temple, Muthumari amman Koil, veerathaman Koil and Sivan Koil are some of the oldest temples found here.
Economy
Pallikaranai is home to many BPO and IT/ITES companies. Many mid-size IT companies and MNCs are located here, including Future Works, Hexawave, Jasmine Tech, Paragon, and Kaladi.
Hospitals
Dr. Kamakshi Memorial Hospital is one of the Tertiary Care Hospital in Pallikaranai and V-Cure Hospital is located opposite to Pallikaranai police station (high school), Avs Hospital near to Pallikaranai police station (high school) and Global Hospitals 6.3 km on to Perumbakkam sholinganallur Road.
Colleges and research centres
Jerusalem Engineering College
Jerusalem Educational Trust was formed in 1993 as a charitable trust, with an objective of promoting higher education in India in the fields of engineering and technology, medicine, dentistry and paramedical works as well as arts, science, commerce and physical education.
Sree Balaji Dental College
Sree Balaji Dental College (approved by Dental Council of India and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India, New Delhi and affiliated to Bharath University, Chennai) with its hospital complex is situated at Pallikaranai, a beautiful suburban landscape on the Velechery Main road, Chennai, easily accessible by road either from Saidapet or Tambaram. A very prominent center of Dental care in the city of Chennai, it has all the amenities and facilities to give first-rate treatment to its patients. It has since emerged as a center of Dental care attracting multitudes of patients every day. It offers both undergraduate and post-graduate courses of all specialities.
Asan Memorial College of Arts & Science
The Asan Memorial College of Arts & Science was established in 1994. It is a co-educational institution of repute which offers courses in Arts, Science, Commerce, Business Administration and Hotel Management. The college was formally inaugurated by His Excellency K.R. Narayanan, the Honourable Vice President of India in December 1994.
It is a co-educational institution of repute which offers courses in arts, science, commerce, business administration and hotel management. The college was formally inaugurated by His Excellency K.R. Narayanan, the Honourable Vice President of India in December 1994.
http://www.asaneducation.com/
National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT)
The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) was established in November 1993 as an autonomous society under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. NIOT is managed by a Governing Council and the director is the head of the institute.
The major aim of starting NIOT under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, is to develop reliable indigenous technology to solve the various engineering problems associated with harvesting of non-living and living resources in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which is about two-thirds of the land area of India.
References
External links
{{Chennai Topics
Neighbourhoods in Chennai
Suburbs of Chennai