Integrated Townships catch fancy of techies

Techie families are logging into integrated townships in a big way. And with Bangalore's top builders and developers getting into the act, the market for integrated townships is growing by the day.

Non-stop water, power supply, plenty of open lung spaces, wide roads, security systems, swimming pools in the backyard, club houses, joggers parks, day-care centres, children's play areas...the list of amenities goes on, making these attractive options.

Says Nisha Rodriguez, a software engineer with an IT company, "We are a techie couple. While my office is in Whitefield, my husband goes to Electronic City. We are living in Malleswaram, which is in the heart of city. Initially, it was a good feeling to live in the thick of urban populace but things turned into a nightmare soon. Since both of us work, there was no security for the house. Traffic snarls were becoming nightmarish. We hardly used to get time together and were completely drained by the time we reached home. Lifestyle became so mechanical every day that we used to get irritated with even minor issues. That was when we decided that we had to do something".

They met a professional property consultant and checked out a few sites in the peripheral areas, but found that there were no civic amenities. However, they found an integrated township off Sarjapur Road and found it was ideal in more ways than one.

The advantages of opting for integrated townships are plenty. They are well equipped in terms back-up power, water tanks, water treatment plants, underground cabling, high boundary walls, sprawling lawns and green spaces, well-laid roads, and so on. "Even though they come at a price, it's worth the pay. The township were I have built my house is free of vandalism. We have round-the-clock security with cameras and CCTV facility. We even have a parking area for visitors vehicles. It's living in peace and tranquillity", says Prashanth Kumar, an architect in the city.

The demand for vacant plots in integrated townships is increasing as these are approved by the government. They have clear titles, and infrastructure is in place before you enter.

A top executive with the State Bank of Mysore says, "We went aggressive while giving loans for sites and construction of houses in the greater Bangalore areas, but soon we found that many properties ran into problems because of titles, approvals and double ownership. Of late, we are getting increasing number of applications for loans to buy plots in integrated townships. These applications get cleared faster as the titles and approvals are clear".

While basic infrastructure like roads, power and water take time to come up in CMC areas, one can live in peace in an integrated township as civic amenities are in place.