Tiruvallur’s identity crisis has links to Chennai’s posh cousins

CHENNAI: For B Prabakaran, former president of the Nungambakkam village panchayat in Tiruvallur district, a routine visit to a hospital recently turned into an exercise in clarification. “When I told the staff I was from Nungambakkam, they immediately assumed I had travelled from Chennai,” he said. “I had to explain that ours is a village in Tiruvallur, not the busy Chennai neighbourhood.”

Prabakaran’s experience is common across several settlements in Tiruvallur that share names with prominent areas in Chennai – like Nungambakkam, Mylapore, Arumbakkam, Korattur and Indra Nagar. For residents, it means frequent misunderstanding, delayed services, and confusion during travels, officials work and, even, emergencies.

The Nungambakkam which is Prabakaran’s village panchayat is in Tiruvallur taluk and comprises about 1,500 houses spread across MGR Nagar, Kammavarpalayam and newly developed areas such as Vaishali Nagar, Lakshmipriya Nagar and Amman Nagar. “Unlike Chennai’s Nungambakkam, our village is quiet and pollution-free,” he says.

Mylapore, a small settlement of over 100 houses in the Poondi block of Uthukottai taluk, is often mistaken for the area in Chennai. “But our village has poor bus access and mobile connectivity. We often have to step out of our homes to get a signal,” says M Rajesh, a college student.

Arumbakkam, known locally as ‘26 Arumbakkam’, in Ikkadu block of Tiruvallur taluk faces a different challenge: poor visibility. “The village name board has gone missing. Visitors have to enquire at the bus stop to find destinations,” laments a resident. Confusion is compounded as there is an Arumbakkam in the district, near Poondi in Tiruttani taluk. “In college, I always mention my taluk name along with the village name to avoid misunderstanding,” says student M Naresh.

Meanwhile, locals in Korattur village panchayat in Poonamallee taluk have found a solution – refer to the place as Jamin Korattur, after a zamindar’s house that once existed there. “During a major civic issue in Chennai’s Korattur years ago, my friends panicked, thinking I was affected. I had to explain that I live in Jamin Korattur,” recalls D Mahesh.

With more than 150 houses, Indra Nagar, in Ellapuram block near Thamaraipakkam, shares its name with a Chennai locality but remains largely unknown outside the region. “Visitors from Chennai are surprised that a ‘rural’ Indra Nagar exists,” notes M Thasarathan.

For residents across these settlements, tackling confusion is everyday affair. Although harmless, it often leads to mix-ups in deliveries, official correspondence and navigation. Many have adapted by identifying their village with nearby towns or taluks, a workaround they hope could eventually become an official practice.