Ambattur

Ambattur
அம்பத்தூர்
City
Ambattur
Coordinates: 13°05′54″N 80°09′44″E / 13.0983°N 80.1622°E / 13.0983; 80.1622Coordinates: 13°05′54″N 80°09′44″E / 13.0983°N 80.1622°E / 13.0983; 80.1622
Country India
State Tamil Nadu
District Chennai
Metro Chennai
Zone 7
Ward 79-93
Government
 • Body Chennai Corporation
Area
 • Total 38.99 km2 (15.05 sq mi)
Elevation 17 m (56 ft)
Population (2011)
 • Total 466,205
 • Density 12,000/km2 (31,000/sq mi)
Languages
 • Official Tamil
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 600 053
Vehicle registration TN-13

Ambattur is a neighbourhood of Northern Chennai, located in the Ambattur taluk of the Chennai Corporation in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was made part of the Chennai Corporation in 2011. Closer to Anna Nagar, Padi and Avadi, Ambattur is a fast developing residential locality and manufacturing hub of Chennai. It covers an area of 45 km². The neighbourhood is served by Ambattur railway station of the Chennai Suburban Railway. Ambattur has its origins in a village of the same name which can be located at present as areas opposite to Ambattur telephone exchange. Ambattur was a village with large extents of agricultural farm lands irrigated by the once-sprawling Ambattur Lake. The growth was heightened after Ambattur industrial estate was established in 1964. In 2011, the neighbourhood had a population 466,205.

Etymology

This place is one of 108 Shakthi Sthals in the country. The Amman temple (for the Hindu deity Durga) here is the fifty-first in the order, giving the locality the Tamil name "aimbaththu onraam oor' (ஐம்பத்து ஒன்றாம் ஊர்), meaning fifty-first place/temple village, which later transmuted as Ambattur. The goddess is worshiped in the form of Vaishnavi.

This place is also called Ambattur because it was a collaboration of 50 small towns (ambathu oor in Tamil) from which the name ambattur was derived

History

Sir Ivan Stedeford, chairman of Tube Investments, United Kingdom, was instrumental in starting the TI factory and TII complex in the country. Sir Ivan signed a joint venture agreement with A. M. Murugappa Chettiar of the Murugappa Group, which was then a small business house manufacturing sandpaper and abrasives for the war effort and also trading war surplus. It was the first joint venture agreement to be signed in South India after Independence. This resulted in the establishment of the TI Cycle factory in a mango grove in Ambattur by 1951, and manufacture of the 'Hercules India' bicycle soon began. By 1954, the word 'India' was dropped from the name when international quality standards were met.[1]

In 1954, Sir Ivan signed his second joint venture, Tube Products India, with the Murugappa family. The factory was established on what had been the British Government of Malaya's Immigration Camp. By 1956, production was started in the new factory and soon resulted in the establishment of other TI factories in the Ambattur-Avadi industrial stretch. This led to a rapid growth in population in the region and several public amenities were established in Ambattur by TI company, such as the Sir Ramaswami Mudaliar Higher Secondary School (named after the person who had initially introduced the partners to each other), a post office and a bank. When the growing population demanded a hospital, the company established one between Ambattur and Avadi in 1966 from a gift of around £5,000 from Sir Ivan. The hospital was named the Sir Ivan Stedeford Hospital in his honor.[1]

Administration

Ambattur comes under the Chennai North parliamentary constituency. It was previously under the North Chennai parliamentary constituency, and, along with Villivakkam, it was the largest assembly constituency in India. The delimitation process of assembly constituencies had given Ambattur a new identity of its own: Constituency No. 8, Tamil Nadu. Once a major panchayat, Ambattur was made a township in the 1960s and a selection-grade municipality from April 1975. In May 1992, it was raised to special-grade municipality.[2] It was a municipality till October 2011. It had been divided into 52 wards. Ambattur Municipality included Padi, Korattur, Anna Nagar Western Extension, Mogappair, Ayappakkam TNHB and the Ambattur Industrial Estate areas.

On 15 June 2011, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister of India to expand the city limits of Chennai by which the Ambattur Municipality would come under the new scheme.[3]

Since 2011, it is part of Chennai Corporation as Zone 7 with 15 wards (Ward Nos. 79 to 91, 93).[4]

Demographics

Religious census
Religion Percent(%)
Hindu
  
 86.53%
Muslim
  
 3.68%
Christian
  
 8.95%
Sikh
  
 0.05%
Buddhist
  
 0.04%
Jain
  
 0.17%
Other
  
 0.57%
No religion
  
 0.01%
Historical population
YearPop.±%
197145,586—    
1981115,901+154.2%
1991215,424+85.9%
2001310,967+44.4%
2011466,205+49.9%

According to the 2011 census, Ambattur had a population of 466,205 with a sex-ratio of 985 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929.[5] A total of 48,444 were under the age of six, constituting 24,829 males and 23,615 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 11.49 percent and 0.33 percent of the population, respectively. The average literacy of the town was 82.61 percent, compared with the national average of 72.99 percent.[5] The town had 120,248 households. There were 184,390 workers, comprising 1,252 cultivators, 1,128 main agricultural labourers, 2,467 in house hold industries, 159,242 other workers, 20,301 marginal workers, 507 marginal cultivators, 453 marginal agricultural labourers, 641 marginal workers in household industries and 18,700 other marginal workers.[6] As per the religious census of 2011, Ambattur had 86.53% Hindus, 3.68% Muslims, 8.95% Christians, 0.05% Sikhs, 0.04% Buddhists, 0.17% Jains, 0.57% following other religions and 0.01% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.[7]

During 2001-2011, Ambattur registered a population growth of 54 percent.[8]

Waterbodies

A section of the Ambattur Lake

Ambattur has two main waterbodies, namely the Ambattur Eri and the Chithu Oragadam Lake and the bigger Puzhal eri on the outskirts. The upkeep of the Ambattur Eri is plagued by problems such as dumping of garbage,[9] water mining and construction of buildings and the Chithu Oragadam (Thangal) Eri suffers due to pollution by sewage.[10] The local body generates nearly 250 tonnes of garbage daily.[11]

Ambattur has a stormwater drain network of 177.95 km, the largest of the eight zones newly added to the Corporation of Chennai in 2011.[12]

Economy

The economy of Ambattur is mainly industrial. It was well known as an auto ancillary hub. However, in the late 2000s many IT companies have come up in Ambattur.

One Indiabulls Park, Ambattur

Ambattur Industrial Estate

The Ambattur Industrial Estate, spread over an area of 1,430 acres (4.9 km²), houses about 1,800 units[13] and is the biggest small scale industrial estate in South Asia. It was commissioned in the year 1964 by the Government of Tamil Nadu. Companies like Britannia, TI Cycles of India, Dunlop, and TVS have their plants in Ambattur. VSNL-Tata Communication has its satellite earth station at the Ambattur–Red Hills road, known as wireless among the locals. Jaya TV, Vijay TV, Asianet and Kairali relay signals from this facility. The Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF), which manufactures military tanks, is just 5 km from this place, adding to its importance. A railway concrete sleeper manufacturing company is located near the Ambattur railway station. Textile industries such as Ambattur Clothing Limited (ACL) and Bombay Fashions have their facilities here and employ thousands of women. The units in the Industrial Estate generate a combined annual revenue of over ₹ 35,000 million.[14]

The Industrial Estate has a bus terminus. The Ambattur Estate terminus and the maintenance centre with a capacity of 100 buses were opened in 1967. However, as of 2012, the centre handles 125 buses a day, with a staff count of 1,100.[15]

IT parks

The Ambit IT Park with CMA CGM, iOpex Technologies and CSS Corp

Ambattur Industrial Estate has attracted a lot of IT companies due to its proximity to residential neighbourhoods and the lower rentals. The lease rentals of IT Parks in Ambattur are half of those in the city. Information Technology (IT) companies such as MilesTs, HCL Technologies, Dell and Tata Consultancy Services have their development centres here. Out of the 22 facilities that HCL Technologies has in Chennai, six are in Ambattur. There are also a few BPO centres such as Perot Systems, iOPEX Technologies. Prince Info Park, Ambit Park, One Indiabulls Park are some of the major IT parks in Ambattur. Chennai Tech Park, a 2,400,000 sq ft (220,000 m2), state-of-the-art, futuristic IT park, on 10 acres (40,000 m2) of land is commissioned since 2009. Royal Bank of Scotland a renowned UK Bank has stated its IT operations in Chennai Tech Park. As a remarkable mile stone, CMA CGM, world's 3rd largest liner started their documentation centre along with Regional eCommerce Team in AMBIT park.

However, the demand for commercial space in Ambattur is not as robust as Rajiv Gandhi Salai which is marketed extensively by the government. While IT and ITeS firms in Ambattur have brought in a new image to the industrial belt that has been known for its garment and auto-ancillary units, it has increased the real estate prices.[16]

Transport

Road

The Chennai-Tiruvallur High Road (CTH Road or NH205) passes through Ambattur and the Chennai-Kolkata highway is just about 7 km from the place making it a strategic location. On an average, about 40,000 passenger car units use the CTH Road.[17] The new Chennai Bypass road between Maduravoyal and Madhavaram passes through Ambattur Industrial Estate. It connects NH4 with NH5 and NH205 via Ambattur Industrial Estate.

The Ambattur bus terminus is located adjacent to the MTH Road and has MTC (city buses) connecting Ambattur with various points in Chennai city. Ambattur does not have a proper bus terminus despite being one of the biggest localities of Chennai. A lot of buses from Avadi and the outskirts of Chennai also pass through Ambattur, offering good connectivity. There are also a few buses operating to Nagercoil, Tirunelveli, Madurai and other parts of Tamil Nadu from here. Buses to the famous pilgrim center of Tirupathi can also be availed from Ambattur.

On 4 October 2013, the Tamil Nadu Highways department issued a GO extending the entire stretch of the road till Tirutani to 6 lanes at a cost of ₹ 1,680 million, by means of land acquisition from 12 villages.[18] In the first phase, the road will be widened to 100 ft (4 lanes) with center median at a cost of ₹ 980 million.[19]

Rail

The Chennai Central-Arakkonam railway line passes through Ambattur and has two railway stations in the neighourhood. Ambattur railway station serves the residential areas and Pattaravakkam railway station serves the Ambattur Industrial Estate area. Suburban Broad Gauge EMU trains operate daily from Chennai Central and Chennai Beach to Avadi, Tiruvallur, Patabiram Military Siding, Arakkonam and Tiruttani via Ambattur. By rail, Ambattur is 30 minutes from Chennai Central, 20 minutes from Perambur and 10 minutes from Villivakkam. Many fast EMU locals (suburban trains) towards Tiruvallur, Arakkonam and Tiruttani, stop at Ambattur railway station, but fast local trains towards Chennai central do not halt at Ambattur. By fast local train it takes 25 minutes from Chennai Central. There has been a long pending request of a Passenger Reservation Centre at Ambattur. Phase-2 of the Chennai monorail will pass through Ambattur with proposed stations at Ambattur Bus terminus and Pudur.

Educational institutions

Day Cares

Schools

Recently two new schools have come up - Nathella Vidyodaya and Narayana Group of Schools have started the construction and admissions are now open..

Colleges

LIC Zonal Training Centre

Ambattur also houses the Chennai Zonal Training Center of Life Insurance Corporation of India, located near Prithivipakkam.

Hospitals

Sir Ivan Stedeford Hospital is a modern multi-speciality hospital in Ambattur. The hospital is named after Sir Ivan Stedeford, the British industrialist and philanthropist. The hospital was inaugurated on 25 February 1966, and then managed by the AMM Foundation. It is situated 3 km from the Ambattur Rail-Bridge on the Ambattur–Avadi road, about a kilometer from the Ambattur—Red Hills Road intersection.

Other hospitals in the area are Teja Hospital, Mahalakshmi Hospital, EssVee Hospital, Ravindran's Health Care, B.M Ortho and Trauma Hospital, Raghavendra Hospital, Dr.Bhat's Hospital.

Places of worship

Temples

Ashrams include the Sri Yohamaya Bhuvaneshwari Peetham.

Churches

Residential areas in Ambattur

The residential areas of Ambattur are mainly divided by railway line running east to west. Residential areas round the railways station and south of railway line and about are relatively older residential areas. Residential areas ending with word 'puram' can be considered as older areas of Ambattur town.

Residential areas north of the railway line include Venkatapuram, Vijayalaksmipuram, Vinayagapuram, Kallikuppam, Madhanakuppam (Lakeview Nagar), Ramnagar, Menambedu, Karukku, Prithivipakkam, Gnanamurthy Nagar, DTP Colony (Vijayalaksmipuram), Pudur, Krishnapuram, Thiruvengada Nagar, Nehru Nagar, Sathyapuram, Cholapuram, Oragadam, Venkaeshwara Nagar, Banu Nagar, Lenin Nagar, Abiramipuram and Thirumalai Priya Nagar. Residential areas south of the railway line include Varadharajapuram, Ramapuram, Teachers Colony, Mahakavi Bharathiyar Nagar (MKB Nagar), Sivanandha Nagar, Annai Sathya Nagar, ICF Colony, Ambattur old village areas (near Ambattur Telephone Exachange) such as Ambattur Village Street, Athipet, Managalapuram and Pattarivakkam.

Library

The Branch Library, as it is now called, was opened in May 1971 by the then Minister of Education and Local Administration V. R. Nedunchezhiyan. It was earlier known as Murugappa Library, as the building it is housed in belongs to the A.M.M. Charities Trust. The library is situated near Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Government Girls Higher Secondary School (Girl's High School).

Recreational centres

Theatres include Rakki Cinemas (multiplex) and Sri Murugan multiplex near the Ambattur railway station. Kannan Theatre near Senthil Nagar was closed and converted to Dolphin Sports Academy. Parks include Pudur park (Old Pond) near menambedu, Thangal Lake Park near Anjalamaram, Krishnapuram Corporation Park (renovated in October 2009) and the Thiruvengada Nagar Corporation Park (opened on 11 October 2013), Venkatapuram Park at Kubera Vinayagar Temple Ground (opened in 2014)

Shuttle badminton indoor stadium

The Ambattur Badminton Association has constructed an indoor stadium for playing shuttle badminton, located near the TI Cycles of India factory.

Bird life in Ambattur

Quite a variety of birds reside and frequent the places in and around Ambattur. Woodland birds, water birds and many more visit here.[21] They are:

[Note: This list is not complete]

Local newsletters

SOUTH INDIAN POST leading bilingual (English and Tamil) newspaper, Town News, Seithi Mazhai,My Vyapar is the leading bilingual (English and Tamil) newspaper. The Neighbour City and Kutty News are the newspapers in Tamil. Ambattur Talk is in English.

References

  1. 1 2 Muthiah, S. (10 November 2003). "Sir Ivan of Ambattur". The Hindu (Chennai: The Hindu). Retrieved 28 Mar 2014.
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ "Jaya to go ahead with expansion of city limit". The Times Of India. 15 June 2011.
  4. ↑ OneIndia
  5. 1 2 "Census Info 2011 Final population totals". Office of The Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  6. ↑ "Census Info 2011 Final population totals - Ambattur". Office of The Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  7. ↑ "Population By Religious Community - Tamil Nadu" (XLS). Office of The Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  8. ↑ Kalyanaraman, M. (25 October 2011). "Migration Spurs Suburban Sprawl". The Times of India epaper (Chennai: The Times Group). Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  9. ↑ Chennai Online
  10. ↑ The Hindu
  11. ↑ Garbage burning sets off problems for Ambattur
  12. ↑ "Rs. 3000-crore stormwater project for new zones". The Hindu (Chennai). 30 August 2012. Retrieved 5 Sep 2012.
  13. ↑ Arterial roads in Ambattur Estate to be widened soon
  14. ↑ Raja Simhan, T. E. (9 January 2013). "IT parks in Ambattur Estate wallow with space abegging". Business Line (Chennai: The Hindu). Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  15. ↑ "Ambattur Estate". Dinamalar (Chennai). 10 September 2012.
  16. ↑ "Ambattur emerges as real estate hot spot for IT companies". The Hindu (Chennai, India). 19 May 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  17. ↑ Lakshmi, K.; Rajan (14 June 2010). "Suburbs developing, amenities lagging behind". The Hindu (Chennai). Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  18. ↑ "Chennai to Tirupati 6-lane highway soon". The Deccan Chronicle (Chennai). 21 October 2013. Retrieved 27 Oct 2013.
  19. ↑ "Encroachments along CTH Road removed". The Hindu (Chennai). 5 October 2013. Retrieved 27 Oct 2013.
  20. ↑ "Full Gospel Telugu Baptist Prayer House, Chennai – Home Page". Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  21. ↑ Blackbuck.org

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