In
an area like Velachery where finding open space for recreational
activities is a tough task, the Chennai Corporation has retrieved a big
open space reservation (OSR) land and opened it to the public.

The
land measuring around 30,000 square feet had remained out of bounds for
the public as it was maintained by the residents welfare association of
an apartment complex.

A senior Corporation official of Adyar Zone
says the OSR land measuring 29,916 sq. ft. was located in Bethel
Avenue, Velachery. Located in Regal Palm Garden Apartments, the land was
in a legal dispute for several years.

However, members of many
residents welfare associations in Velachery say that more has to be done
by the officials to retrieve OSR lands which have been encroached upon
or caught in legal dispute.

S. Kumararaja, an office-bearer of
Annai Indira Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association, says several OSR
lands located ‘inside’ multi-storey apartments which are meant to serve
as parks and playgrounds for the public have not been handed over to the
civic body. A flat promoter in Baby Nagar has constructed a temple in
the space allotted for OSR land. In another instance, a park set up on
the OSR land inside a multi-storey apartment on 12th Street of Annai
Indira Nagar was not open for the public.

Activists urge the civic
officials to seriously pursue the court cases so that the OSR lands are
retrieved. In some cases, the Corporation has lost the cases despite
having the required documents to support its case, they claim.