Koyambedu

Koyambedu
—  neighbourhood  —
Entrance of Koyambedu Market
Koyambedu Location of Koyambedu in Chennai and India
Coordinates	13°04′10″N 80°11′51″E
Country	India
State	Tamil Nadu
District(s)	Chennai
Planning Agency	CMDA
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)

Koyambedu (Tamil: கோயம்பேடு) is a locality in the South Indian city of Chennai. The Koyambedu area has become a major hub of activity in Chennai City after the inauguration of the market and the bus terminus. The area is active round the clock owing to the movement of people and goods through the day.

Access

Koyambedu is connected to both the Chennai Central Railway Station in Park Town and the Chennai International Airport in Tirusulam through highways: Poonamallee High Road (NH4), a six lane highway, connects Koyambedu to the Chennai Central Railway Station while the Jawaharlal Nehru Road (also known as Inner Ring Road or 100 feet (30 m) road) connects Koyambedu to Chennai Airport.

Recently, property prices have shot up in and around Koyambedu. Koyambedu is surrounded by localities like Vadapalani, Anna Nagar, Arumbakkam, MMDA (of Arumbakkam), Aminjikarai, Virugambakkam and Nerkundram.

Places of interest

Temples:

• Sri Kusalavapureesvarar /Kurungaleeswarar Temple
• Sri Vaigundavaasa Perumal Temple
• Sri Vinayagar Temple
• Sri Aaemathamman Temple

It is said to be that, Sri Rama and Sita's Sons Kush and Luv were born in Koyambedu. These perumal and sivan temples are built before hundreds of years.

Infrastructures

Koyambedu Wholesale Market Complex (KWMC)

A view of the Koyambedu Market

Koyambedu boasts of having one of Asia's largest perishable goods market complex called the "Koyambedu Wholesale Market Complex (KWMC)". The KWMC spreads over an area of 295 acres (1.19 km²). Inaugurated in 1996, the KWMC consists of more than 1,000 wholesale shops and 2,000 retail shops. It abuts Poonamalee High Road and Nesapakkam Road and can be easily accessed from all parts of City. In Phase-I, the Wholesale Market for Perishables have been developed in an area of around 70 acres (280,000 m²) by constructing 3,194 shops. The market has two blocks for vegetable shops and one each for fruit and flower shops. In Phase-II, a textile market and in Phase-III, a food grain market is planned to be developed in the complex.

The food grain market will be built on a seven to eight acres of land belonging to the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, adjacent to the Koyambedu fire service station and opposite the vegetable market, and will have about 500 shops.

The market has over 100,000 visitors daily.

The Basic Infrastructure and Amenities Promotion Committee has approved an allocation of Rs.336.3 million for augmentation and maintenance of the infrastructure, including stormwater drain network, in the market complex. The Market Management Committee will carry out the work which includes creation of new stormwater drains over 9 km long, widening of roads and concretisation of a 350-m road connecting Gates 7 and 14, which is being used by heavy vehicles to carry perishables to the market complex.

A bio-methanation plant at the market complex set by Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority was inaugurated in 2006 at a cost of 55 million to generate power from vegetable and fruit waste collected from the wholesale market. The plant was operated by the Koyambedu Market Management Committee till 2008 and was put to disuse owing to machine repair. The plant is operational again from April 2011 and is awaiting Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation's (TANGEDCO) approval to supply electricity to the grid. The plant has the capacity to convert 30 tonnes of waste per day into 2,500 units daily. Of the nearly 150 tonnes of vegetable and fruit waste generated daily at the market, about 30 tonnes are segregated. A total of 1.75 acre has been allotted for composting 50 tonnes of waste. There are also plants to recycle banana stems.

Koyambedu Roundtana

Koyambedu Junction otherwise called the Koyambedu Roundtana is an important road junction in Chennai. It is located north of the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus at the junction of the Inner Ring Road and the NH4. The junction is a part of the Golden Quadrilateral project taken up under the National Highways Development Project.

Sewage Treatment Plants

There are two sweage treatment plants at Koyambedu and they jointly have the capacity to treat 94 million litres a day (mld) of sewage generated in localities such as T.Nagar, Kodambakkam, Anna Nagar, Virugambakkam and Mogappair. The sewage treatment capacity of the city is set to be enhanced with the Chennai Metrowater preparing to float tenders for construction of another plant to treat 120 mld at Koyambedu. The new plant will facilitate treating of additional volume of sewage generated in the neighbouring suburbs. The 1,160-million project, which was sanctioned under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, would come up at 25-acre site in the existing facility at Koyambedu. The new plant would take in the additional volume from suburbs such as Maduravoyal, Ambattur, Nerkundram and Nolambur that are being provided with sewerage network. Unlike the existing facilities, the infrastructure to generate electricity from sewage would be provided during the construction of the plant. The project would be commissioned in two years. This would add to the existing nine facilities with a total capacity of 486 mld in areas such as Kodungaiyur and Nesapakkam and the upcoming two STPs with a treatment capacity of 114 mld.

Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus or the CMBT

Main article: Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus

Spread over an area of 32 acre in Koyambedu, this is the largest bus terminus in Asia and is accredited with the ISO 9001:2000 quality certification.

Mofussil stands for service throughout the Tamil Nadu state and also the neighboring states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Pondicherry.

It can simultaneously station 270 buses and handle over 2 thousand buses and 2 lakh passengers a day. The 36.5 acres (0.148 km²) bus terminus has an 18,000 sq ft (1,700 m²) waiting facility for passengers, a 25,000 sq ft (2,300 m²) parking space for auto rickshaws, cabs and private cars, and 16,000 sq ft (1,500 m²) parking space for two-wheelers.

Chennai Contract Carriage Bus Terminus or CCCBT

Main article: Chennai Contract Carriage Bus Terminus

Koyambedu has another bus terminus for private-owned buses which operate throughout Tamil Nadu and the neighboring states. The CCCBT bus terminus is close to CMBT. It has over 80 bus bays and 100 idle parking catering to around 200 buses per day.

SAF Games Village

The South Asian Federation (SAF) Games Village at Koyambedu, is a large residential complex with 760 flats. Of these, some flats come under the Government-rental scheme and the others belong to individuals and institutions including the Indian Oil, the Reserve Bank of India, the Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India, Annapurna, Food corporation of India, Canara Bank and the State Bank of India.

It was actually built by the Government of Tamil Nadu to provide accommodation during the South Asian Games (or SAF Games) event - for the athletes and sports-persons who participated in the 7th South Asian Federation Games held in Chennai (then Madras) in 1995. Later, the flats were taken over by the Government-aided institutions under various projects of the Tamil Nadu Government and promoted as a large residential complex.

Around 100 officers belonging to the IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS,IA&AS, IPoS etc. reside here. The dwelling units coming under the control of the organizations such as the RBI, Indian Oil and SBI present a smart picture. The development of this area had also led to a tremendous increase in the value of property touching even 1 to 1.5 crores per ground.^{[citation needed]} South Asian Federation(SAF) Games Village is famous for its greenery, even though its close to the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus. It has beautiful parks for kids to enjoy and also is the best place for morning walkers and joggers.

Landmarks

• Koyambedu Roundtana
• Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT), the largest bus terminus in Asia.
• Chennai Contract Carriage Bus Terminus (CCCBT), a separate bus terminus for private-owned buses.
• St. Thomas College, Koyambedu
• J.A. Institute of Engineering & Technology, Koyambedu
• Arihant Majestic Towers, a tall residential complex.
• The Koyambedu market, the largest market in South India.
• SAF Games Village, a large residential complex with several apartments.

External links

• Kurungaleeswarar Temple [8]

• CMBT [9]