The Deccan Chronicle 09.09.2010
` 50 crore OSR land reclaimed
Chennai, Sept. 8: The city corporation’s drive to reclaim open space reserve (OSR) land from star hotels and posh IT parks has hit the mammoth Olympia Tech Park in Guindy, where 15 grounds of land were reclaimed on Wednesday morning.
The land, estimated to cost about Rs 50 crore, recovered from Olympia Tech Park and Thamarai Tech Park, will be put to public use. A small play area for children with a park will come up in these reclaimed OSR lands, mayor M Subramanian told reporters.
The revenue officials of the city corporation are on their toes ascertaining the building plans of recently-constructed commercial establishments and five start hotels to evaluate the OSR land which has to be handed over to the corporation.
The corporation will soon take over lands worth about Rs 1,500 crore during the OSR drive and permission to acquire the lands will be obtained from Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), Mr Subramanian said. In the past four years, it has recovered OSR land worth over Rs 3,000 crore after the property owners failed to hand over the lands, the mayor reiterated.
The chief minister and deputy chief minister have instructed the corporation to acquire government lands that are now in private possession and the drive for OSR lands and against illegal land-grabbing, if any, will continue for the next few months, he said.
According to Ripon Buildings sources, OSR lands should be maintained as open spaces. The concept is that a percentage of large plots should be kept free of construction to ensure breathing space for the city, but several private firms violate this rule and construct concrete structures on OSR, forcing the corporation to reclaim the land. The vigilance department of the city corporation has been assigned to prepare a report on the status of OSR lands in Chennai.
Based on the report, field inspections are now under way. More information on newly-constructed commercial establishments is obtained from CMDA and the land and estate department of the corporation, sources added.
