As Sri Kapaleeswarar Nagar turns 50, revisiting stellar initiatives by its residents

In 1984, C.L. Narayana Pillai relocated to Neelankarai from Besant Nagar, leaving down the familiarity of a location they owned and inhabited for years.

There was a striking starkness to Neelankarai of the 1980s. What passed disconnected arsenic roads were hardly roads. Connectivity by Pallavan Transport Corporation (as MTC was known then) was abysmally poor. Neelankarai laic overmuch beyond the past outpost of Madras, which was Thiruvanmiyur successful those days.

Why would Narayana bash the unthinkable?

“Although we had our ain location successful Besant Nagar with capable civic facilities to buffer the challenges of mundane living, the precocious TDS successful the groundwater was bothering us. In the 3 to 4 visits I made to Neelankarai, I noticed h2o from the country being transported successful lorries to parts lying wrong Corporation of Madras. I was convinced that the aquifer was bully with h2o being disposable 10 feet from crushed level,” says the technologist who runs his ain concern astatine property 72.

Narayana had bought onshore successful an approved layout called Sri Kapaleeswarar Nagar successful Neelankarai.

As Sri Kapaleeswarar Nagar successful Neelankarai celebrates 50 years of its establishment, long-time residents of the locality cannot but look backmost connected the corporate effort that turned the locality into a exemplary colony successful Chennai.

The layout had been approved arsenic aboriginal arsenic 1975 erstwhile the Director of Town and Country Planning Development marked 500-plus plots for sale. Besides its proximity to the beach, determination was thing truly striking astir investing successful this portion of the city. Rows of lily ponds, paddy fields and sandy tracks mostly defined East Coast Road, adjacent the conception adjacent to Madras.

Pocket-friendly crippled prices and a gut feeling that this conception of the metropolis would make successful the aboriginal were a fewer reasons wherefore a tiny assemblage of radical started gathering houses successful Sri Kapaleeswarar Nagar.

“The layout of the colony showed that the main roads were 40 feet wide and interior streets ranged betwixt 23 and 30 feet successful width, which sounded precise charismatic for the ₹40,000 per crushed that I purchased,” says Narayana.

Karpagam Vasudevan, who came to Sri Kapaleeswarar Nagar arsenic a pre-schooler connected a bullock cart, remembers her parent coming to prime them from schoolhouse successful Adyar. “Bus fig 19 and 19 Cut were the lone 2 routes past and would beryllium packed. If you miss them, you cannot get backmost location by bus,” says Karpagam. She besides shares memories of residents going connected nighttime rounds astir the neighbourhood to support an oculus retired for burglars.

On July 12, 1981, residents came unneurotic to signifier Sri Kapaleeswarar Nagar Residents Welfare Association and registered it nether the TN Societies Registration Act 1975. Since past they started to rally unneurotic to get basal amenities successful the Nagar.

“The Association started with conscionable 12 members,” says Narayana, who served arsenic president of the Association for 4 presumption and is presently its advisor.

Women power

A large rallying constituent for the RWA was the enactment they received from Sowbhagya Ladies Association, formed successful 1885. From a ‘walking club’, it expanded to instrumentality up societal and taste activities that helped amended the Nagar astatine aggregate levels.

Jayalakshmi Rajagopala, 82, who moved to the Nagar successful 1982 erstwhile her husband, past moving with Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation Limited, and a radical of different employees from the institution bought plots successful this suburb, says that erstwhile they started out, they were collecting a monthly subscription of ₹3 from ladies to tally a assortment of programmes.

Along with Rotary Inner Wheel Club, they improved the Panchayat Union Middle School successful the neighbourhood that was moving connected empty, with insufficient unit strength, truthful they hired 2 teachers and paid salaries for them for adjacent to 7 years.

Later they expanded to signifier the Sowbhagya Educational Trust successful 1992 wherever meritorious students from the Panchayat School were fixed scholarships for higher education.

“Krishnakumari Mallikarjuna Rao and I were invited to articulation the RWA and for six years we played an progressive relation successful the committee,” says Jayalakshmi, adding that the ladies helping ran for adjacent to 2 decades.

How casual oregon hard was it to summation rank those days?

Seventy eight-year-old R. Chandiraseharan, who bought a crippled successful 1979, says arsenic determination were not galore houses until the mid-80s radical wanted to cognize each different and bash things to marque beingness casual for all.

“As determination were nary telephone lines, we utilized to nonstop handwritten circulars informing radical astir Association meetings. In the aboriginal years, arsenic we did not person a assemblage hall, enforcement committee members would instrumentality turns to big the gathering successful their house. The AGM was mostly held successful a schoolhouse and we had 40-50 radical successful attendance then,” says the septuagenarian who retired from Ennore Power Plant and served arsenic caput betwixt 1987 and 1989. He recalls a souvenir brought retired during those years that narrated the assorted challenges residents faced then.

Wagging battles

Starting from getting a pucca roadworthy to thoroughfare lights, the RWA rallied astir seeking proviso of civic amenities by authorities enactment agencies.

In 2019, the RWA on with different associations connected ECR fought a bitter conflict to reason stormwater drain task successful the country arsenic they felt the permeable sandy ungraded does not request specified a facility.

Residents were palmy successful getting the burial crushed shifted and raising the tallness of the compound partition astir it. Regulating withdrawal of h2o from the Nagar was different combat residents showed unity. The RWAs efforts to revive ponds successful Neelankarai was besides highlighted successful these pages. Association spearheaded galore drives to marque the formation agelong clean.

A exemplary neighbourhood

In 2021, the RWA received the Green Champion Award from the Department of Environment and Forest, Tamil Nadu Government, for its tree-planting workout that had covered overmuch ground.

With the blessings of the elder residents, the existent squad has launched a caller pickle shot court, tennis tribunal and tennikoit court. Since a bulk of residents are elder citizens, meet-ups are held and a paper and mag conception has been provided. Many initiatives are being planned to observe the aureate jubilee year.