The Hindu Business Line : Realty companies now offer ‘walk-to-work’ concept

Hyderabad, July 17 Walk down to your workplace, and after a gruelling day there, take a stroll back to your home, leaving aside all the nightmarish thoughts about the traffic you might face either way.

Sounds unrealistic? No, say some real estate companies.

“The trend in the West is to locate residential areas abutting their workplaces. This would not only reduce the burden of travelling to and fro, but also increase efficiencies of the employees,” Mr K. Thiagarajan, Chief Executive Officer of Maytas Properties Ltd, told Business Line.

The company, backed by the promoters of Satyam Computer, has taken up Hill Country, an integrated township coming up on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The company is coming out with a 75-acre IT and ITES special economic zone inside the township.

“This will help the residents to walk down to their workplaces. This would not only save time and fuel costs, it would also help the employees spend quality time with their families,” he said.

Mr Bhaskar, who works with a MNC infotech company in Hyderabad, says distance is the main reason for him to move to Kukatpally near the Hi-Tec City from Kothapet where he used to stay with his parents.

“I have decided to move to a locality near to my office and bought a flat. This has helped me cut down on the distance from 20 kilometres (one way) to 6 kilometres,” he said.

Enabling environment

Walk-to-work, however, doesn’t mean just providing residential space near to your workplace. It is also about providing a wide variety of amenities and services, such as hospitals, schools, retail malls, entertainment facilities and security, Mr Thiagarajan said.

According to Mr Hari Challa, Managing Director of Aliens Infrastructure Company, “walk-to-work concept holds true in the present situation of high stress life and rising fuel prices.”

“To be close to the workplace, people spend a fortune on smaller apartments in the central locations,” he said.

Aliens too has begun work on Aliens Space Station.1 near the financial district that houses top IT, ITES and financial services companies. The 30-floor project would house a total of 2,205 residential units. The total value of the project, when completed, is put at Rs 1,000 crore. Similarly, Ramky Infra, another real-estate player has already put in place ‘Ramky towers’ in the Gachibowli area with the same concept.

Different view

Mr Anand Reddy, Executive Director of PBEL (an Indo-Israeli joint venture), has a different view on the walk-to-work concept. “It is not a new concept,” he said, citing the townships centred around public sector companies such as BHEL.

According to him, walk-to-work townships could leave you in a position where you see the same people at workplaces, shops, play areas, and at your neighbourhood.

“The kids needed more open culture rather than the closed dwelling areas. An ideal township should be in upwards of 2,000 acres and not in small chunks,” he felt.

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