IT corridor, city's pride, still faces connection issues

Every morning, R Dharani waits for an hour at the bus stop for his 40-minute commute from Semmenchery to Adyar. It will be a lucky day for this 53-year-old employee of Life Insurance Corporation of India if he can find his way beyond the footboard of the inside of a crowded bus.
The IT corridor may be the pride of Greater Chennai. But for hundreds of commuters like Dharani on the 15 bus stops between Madhya Kailash and Siruseri, Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) is just one of the many suburban areas that are poorly connected internally and to the inner city.Home to over 240 software companies employing more than 1.2 lakh professionals , OMR lacks good roads with medians, bus bays, service lanes and bus shelters . The area attracts IT workers from all over Chennai .
Share autos and mini autos operate on the sly here as they are not permitted , but charge a premium . The minimum is Rs 10 – double that of the prescribed fare in Chennai . C Shyamsundar spends two hours for a one-way commute from Minjur to Perungudi . He takes the train to Central where he hops on to a bus to Adyar or Taramani. "It's a 10-minute ride from Taramani to Perungudi but the share autos charge Rs 15 to Rs 25 depending on the demand. In the city, share autos may charge around Rs 10 for the same distance," he says. Transport officials routinely crack down on the share autos and mini vans, but these vehicles come on to the roads after the operators pay Rs 100 per vehicle. The OMR stretch has no direct bus connectivity to Egmore, Chennai Central, Purasawalkam , Mount Road, Saidapet, Anna Nagar and T Nagar. Commuters from OMR have to go to Tiruvanmiyur or Adyar depots for buses to these places. Two years ago, MTC stopped a direct service from Kelambakkam on OMR to Parrys Corner via Saidapet and Mount Road. Direct buses to Mylapore and Royapettah from Kelambakkam were withdrawn a few years ago.