Chennai: City’s added areas which lack adequate green spaces will have at least 30 more parks at a cost of 60 crore. The Greater Chennai Corporation is scouting for OSR land to plan large size parks in areas such as Madhavaram, Manali, Sholinganallur, and Perungudi.
People from these areas have to visit Tower Park in Anna Nagar or the Semmozhi Poonga on Dr Radhakrishnan Salai, in core city to have a big-park experience. The core city has several parks that span more than 10 acres, but the added areas don’t have such facilities, said deputy mayor Mahesh Kumar. “The added areas have just roadside parks, most of which are less than one acre. We have given instructions to zonal offices to scout OSR lands and other GCC-owned land lying unused. The works will begin soon,” he said.
Over the past 14 years, the corporation did not establish big neighbourhood parks, except for the 358-acre Adyar Eco Park restored in 2011. Out of the 835 parks in the city, 24 span more than 2.4 acres. Among these, added areas, which house 30% of the city’s population, have just two such parks — at Manali and Sholinganallur. Of the 40 medium-sized parks in the city, which measure between 1.2 acres and 2.4 acres, added areas have just 12.
Sathish Galley, a resident of OMR, said there’s a huge HR & CE depatment land near Semmenchery that can be used for a park.
“People need huge parks with a circular walking track. There’s none like that. GCC must get an NOC and use this land to create a park,” he said.
Madhavaram has a large botanical park, but residents demand green spaces like the Tower Park in Anna Nagar. “The closest recreational spot for Madhavaram residents is the upcoming Villivakkam Eco-Park, which is 10 km away,” said R Boopalan, a civic activist from North Chennai.
“GCC must convert the Madhavaram Periya Thoppu lake into an eco-park with a 400-metre walking track,” he said.
Except for the Robinson Park in Royapuram, there are not many huge parks in core North Chennai areas either, he said.
With the city’s green space at just 5%, much less than the globally required 33%, councillors also sought a serious look into climate-positive projects.
“GCC has to set up a climate change department, as stipulated in the Chennai Climate Action Plan of 2023. These issues should be discussed and addressed there,” said Thiruvottiyur GCC councillor Kavi Ganesan.