Massive parking facility to come up at OTA-Nanganallur Road Metro station: CMRL

Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) plans to create a massive parking facility for the OTA-Nanganallur Road Metro at the spot that housed a popular restaurant until recently. The restaurant was demolished a few days ago.

This land belonged to the State government, and the restaurant had taken this land on lease. Even though the lease had expired, the restaurant management did not vacate the premises. Recently, the Alandur Judicial Court gave a ruling in favour of the government and said the land should be handed over to the administration. Following this, the authorities of the Chengalpattu district administration razed the restaurant.

CMRL officials said that based on their request, the State government had now handed over this piece of land, and they would use it to augment the parking space for the OTA-Nanganallur Road Metro. The land measures close to 40,000 sq.ft, and officials said they would be able to accommodate around 500 vehicles here. CMRL now needs to clear the area, pave and mark the space, create ramps and other such facilities needed for parking in the next few months. It would take five to 10 minutes for commuters to walk from this parking facility to the Metro station.

Officials said there was demand for more parking space at this station. In the absence of a full-fledged last-mile connectivity option, many use their two-wheelers to reach the station. Gradually, the number of people travelling to and from this station may increase when this facility became available.

Srivatson, a frequent Metro Rail commuter and resident of Nanganallur, said since this station only had one entry/exit point (in the direction of traffic flow from Alandur to Airport), commuters had to take a U-turn, park their vehicles, and then reach the station. CMRL has planned to build the second entry/exit soon.

“Such a huge parking area will be beneficial to a lot of people since it would make it easier for them to reach the station. Also, parking space gets filled fast in this station. It would also help if officials created a dedicated pathway from this parking area to the station,” Mr. Srivatson added.