Palavakkam, in real terms, is a suburb of Chennai, located past the locality of Thiruvanmiyur on the East Coast Road, around 6 kilometres from Adyar. However, in administrative terms, Palavakkam is a census town coming under the Kancheepuram district, Tamil Nadu. The 2001 census data pegs the population of Palavakkam at 14,369 but this data, ten years down the line seems redundant. Literacy rates are unsurprisingly healthy, and in terms of human development, its situation is fairly respectable.
History
Based on the information I gleaned by way of casual interviews, this place doesn’t have much of a history per se. This particular zone used to be, for all intents and purposes, a fishing village that came under the Palavakkam Panchayat (still does) and was composed of mostly poor to lower middle-class families belonging to the Dalit and Nayakkar communities.
Current Scenario
This is where things get as interesting as they can possibly get for an exercise of this nature. If one casts a glance at the way this area has developed over the past decade and a half, it will be difficult to believe that this used to be a fairly (economically) insignificant settlement consisting mostly of fishermen living in semi-permanent dwellings. This erstwhile village has, in a manner of speaking, become a satellite town. The observable changes are in terms of:
- Retail Stores and Showrooms
- Essential Amenities
- Connectivity to Chennai proper
- Residential Areas
- Places of Worship
- Leisure
The Curious Case of Palavakkam’s Development
It is not very difficult to conjure up an image of the way things stand in this locality if one takes into account all the above factors. On the face of it, it would seem that explaining these developments is fairly straightforward – the city expanded, swallowed this village and consequently, these changes have been brought about.
However, a closer look reveals that that hasn’t been the case: this has not been the case of the city growing outwards and incorporating the settlement into itself, but this has been a scenario where a small, relatively low-income settlement has seen a burst of expansion, and has gradually integrated itself a part of the main city. Chennai has become quite a congested city over the past decade –even though it is still a long way behind Kolkata and Mumbai. My own explanation for these state of affairs is Palavakkam as well as more such coastal locales down the ECR (like Neelankarai and Injambakkam) are witnessing these kinds of expansions because of the fact that the financially well off are seeking to live in relatively pollution-free and pleasant environs, away from the bustle of the city: and these beach-facing localities are giving them the opportunity to do just that. The distance from the main parts of Chennai is not an issue anymore, because of the improved road network. Property prices were much lower back in the nineties, and those who bought plots of land or built houses in an area like Palavakkam have been laughing all the way to the bank – in one case, a 2-storey house in the VGP Layout, Palavakkam was built sometime in the early nineties, sold for around Rs. 35 Lakhs in 2002, and then resold recently for close to Rs. 2 Cr. Classified ads in newspapers will tell us that a plot of land measuring 2400 square feet is quoted at Rs. 1.5 Cr. Also, if we observe the land use patterns, we’ll see that some have opted to purchase plots of land and leave them unused – because there’s no foreseeable depreciation on the property.
So much for the way the rich are shaking things up – what about the fisherfolk who were after all, the original inhabitants of this area? Well, things may have marginally improved for them (better sanitation, steady water and electricity supply), but they have been completely marginalised in so many ways. These people have been pushed farther and farther away by the massive real-estate boom, living in small semi-pucca houses and in shanties – several of them have quit fishing and found other jobs within the city. Plus, the construction of these new houses has meant that there is a significant migrant population (primarily from Assam, Bihar and Orissa) that works here and has, to some degree, increased congestion in those low-income residential areas. In a way, this can be termed as gentrification, which refers to ‘the changes that result when wealthier people ("gentry") acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities’. Because of gentrification, the average income increases in the community, but the situation of the poorer initial residents of the area becomes worse – they are unable to pay rents and property taxes, and usually end up displaced. New businesses catering specifically to the needs of the affluent consumer base move in, further skewing the situation against the relatively poor. Ecologically, the overall general influx has meant that the erstwhile pristine beaches are being laid to waste – by garbage and sewage dumping (waste water from septic tanks is released onto the beach sands – this seems to be common elsewhere in Chennai, or for that matter, other coastal cities and towns in the country).
If we look at Henri Lefebvre’s framework as explicated in ‘The Urban Revolution’, he talks of exchange and trade being the primary reasons for kickstarting the process of urbanisation: here, though, it seems to be a case of the affluent seeking out areas of relative peace and quiet in the periphery of an urban settlement., and in the process the area is gradually becoming they very kind of area they wanted to stay away from in the first place. But I guess the beachfront location ensures that the area remains in demand for a while.
PS: Due to the fading light by the time I got there this Saturday, there were not many decent photos I could click with the sub-par camera on the phone. I will upload better pictures on Friday.
My cousin recommended this blog and she was totally right keep up the fantastic work!
ReplyDeleteRestaurants in OMR Chennai
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI LIKE PALAVAKKAM
ReplyDeleteMAGESH TAILORING INSTITUTE 3/100 P.K.S GARDEN ,PERIYAR SALAI , PALAVAKKAM .CHENNAI -600041 CELL 9150294228, 9841329126
ReplyDeleteMAGESH TAILORING INSTITUTE
ReplyDeleteMAGESH TAILORING INSTITUTE
ReplyDeleteMAGESH TAILORING INSTITUTE 107, V.G.P LAYOUT , 4 TH MAIN ROAD ,PALAVAKKAM, CHENNAI 600041
ReplyDeletemagesh tailoring institute 107.v.g.p layout 4 th main road palavakkam chennai 600041 6374103104, 7299730320, 8667091419
ReplyDelete