The Hindu 24.08.2009
Underground parking in T.Nagar planned
Deepa H Ramakrishnan
Corporation officials say the facility will not affect the playground
— Photo: R.Shivaji Rao 
The playground on Venkatnarayana Road, T.Nagar, where Chennai Corporation is planning an underground parking.
CHENNAI: The Chennai Corporation is exploring the possibility of building an underground multi-level car parking facility at its playground on Venkatnarayana Road in T.Nagar.
It has floated a tender calling for consultants to conduct a traffic survey and prepare a revenue model for the facility. The bids will be opened in a week. Corporation sources said it is as an initiative to decongest T. Nagar, a commercial hub. If the consultants find the project feasible, procedures to get approval from both the Corporation Council and the State government would be initiated, they said. The facility would not affect the playground surface area, which has a basketball court.
The Corporation had proposed multi-level parking at Panagal Park some years ago, but shelved the plan as many people opposed any move to disturb one of the major lung spaces of the area.
Asked if an underground parking lot is safe enough as Chennai is in Seismic Zone III, the sources said the relevant precautions would be taken.
Underground parking facilities exist in New Delhi and Kolkata. Local bodies in Bangalore and New Delhi have recently proposed such parking lots. In New Delhi, the proposal is to create parking space for 1,400 cars at Connaught Place.
