ECR-The East Coast Road, Chennai

A Guide to Buy Properties in

The East Coast Road-All  You  Want  to  Know

It’s proposed to extend ECR upto Kanyakumari, in the last stages.

Mr.Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Transports, proposes (in 2015) to develop ECR into a National Highway.

However, for Chennaiites, ECR means the road upto Mahabalipuram or upto Pondichery.

Formation

The Road was formed and developed by connecting a some small and narrow lanes and Village Roads. It was inaugurated in 1998. Till then, the Roads that forms the present ECR were full of potholes, and was not motorable.

It was the Old Mahabalipuram Road that was used to reach Mahabalipuram, though the condition of that Road was also not in any way better.

Road Improvement is Still Not Completed

The distance between Thiruvanmiyur and Mahabalipuram is 42 KMs. Now, the areas upto Uthandi have been incorporated into Chennai Corporation.

The Road is narrow in many places and has a lot of bends before Pondichery which results in a number of accidents. Now the government is seized of the matter and the Road is being widened as a 4 lane one for which the land acquisition process upto Mahabalipuram is almost over.

An Attractive Place to Visit or Live

Apart from the historic Mahabalipuram, ECR has a number of places of interest and leisure joints which makes it one of the attractive destination for Tourists and Week-end revellers.

There are many ancient Temples in ECR. The Marundeeswarar Temple in Thiruvanmiyur, Nithya Kalyana Perumal Temple in Thiruvidanthai are two of them. The Prathyankara Devi Temple in Akkarai/Shlinganalur is another popular Temple.

The villages along ECR upto Uthandi are:

Thiruvanmiyur, Kottivakkam, Palavakkam, Neelankarai, Vettuvankeni, Injambakkam, Akkarai, Panayur, and then Uthandi.

Coastal Regulations Zone(CRZ) Notifications

In the above Villages, a few Layouts were Approved in the 1970s and 1980s.

The Coastal Regulations Zone(CRZ) Notifications came into force in 1991. After that, NO Layout was Approved by DTCP in ECR.

The Notification has put restrictions on Constructions activities also.

The FSI allowed is only .8 in ECR.

Also, sub-division of Plots into less than 2 Grounds in size will not be allowed. In ECR, in most of these Layouts, the individual Plots were of the size of 3 Grounds and more. Some Villas have been Promoted in ECR in Golden Beach and other areas. The Land Areas associated with these Villas will be less than 2 Grounds and shall be in the form of UDS only.

The Notification put on hold any further Promotion of Layouts in ECR. So, Plots in the existing Layouts that were already Approved, are always in good demand.

Living Conditions Much Improved Now

OMR and ECR

The Rajiv Gandhi Salai (OMR) was operational from 2008. This further fueled Property Prices in ECR. The distance between ECR(Akkarai) and OMR(Sholinganallur) is only 2 KMs.

Impact of Ban on Registration of Unapproved Plots

Earlier, many Land Areas in ECR were plotted out without Approvals, and became ‘Layouts’. The Plots in those Layouts were also in good demand, because, there were no Bar on Registration of Unapproved Plots. Then the building Plans were Sanctioned by the Panchayats. Many Plots in well developped Layouts in Injambakkam, Panayur, Uthandi and beyond, have lost their value now because of the Ban.

With the Ban on Registration of Unapproved Plots on Oct 21, 2016, the choice for buyers is very small. They have to scout for Plots from among the existing Approved Layouts. This may eventually push up the prices further, once the markets get the momentum. Already there are signs for it.

Regularisation

These Unapproved Plots can be Regularised if the Plot owners apply. Of course, conditions apply.

Government Projects that may have a bearing on property prices

East Coast Railway Line

The Pondy-Chennai Railway line has been sanctioned more than a decade ago.Yet, the implementation is tardy. The Railways have completed the preliminary works. The Problem appears to be lack of funds, and issues related to land acquisition.

Once the work of laying the line started, the property prices may boom further.

Buckingham Canal Revamp

Buckingham Canal runs from Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh to Vilupuram. It is running parallel to ECR after Thiruvanmiyur till Marakanam. Now the Center proposes to do a major makeover of the canal. The idea appears to be to make it suitable for ferrying people and cargo. This also will have its impact on the Prices of Properties in ECR

Points to Keep in Mind While Buying a Property in ECR

Like in other places, here also Property Transactions are few. But, the prices continue to rule high in most of the places in ECR.

Buyers may do well to keep the following in mind before venturing into Buying a Plot in ECR:

1)There are only 5 or 6 Approved Layouts in ECR after Neelankarai. This means the number of Plots are almost a fixed quantity. No fresh Layouts will be approved in view of the CRZ.

2)Sub-divisions of a Land area may take place occasionally. Least size of the Plot for which Approval, after sub-division will be given, is 2 Grounds.

3)Most of the Plots are 3 Grounds and more. 1 Ground Plots are available in Uthandi VGP Layout only.

4)Fresh Supply of Approved Plots may come from Sub-division of Lands, and not from a Layout.

These factors will continue to influence the prices.

Property Prices in ECR Today

Commercial Lands

There are a few good OnRoad Plots in ECR. The price ranges from 1.3 Cr/Gr to 2.5 Cr/Gr. All the Land Areas are big ones, above 3 Grounds

ECR Properties for Sale

[listings taxonomy=locations id=”2757″, id=”2334″, id=”2211″, columns=”3″ limit=”3″]