The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) is planning a scheme to utilise open space reservation (OSR) in large-scale developments for various purposes including developing sport facilities.

The development regulations of the second Master Plan for Chennai stipulate that in sites with an extent of 10,000 square metres or more, 10 per cent of the area excluding road shall be reserved as open space and transferred to the authority or the local body designated. The CMDA, while sanctioning the planning proposal, takes over these reserved sites and hands them over to local bodies for development and maintenance of parks and playgrounds.

Since the second Master Plan, 13,35553,111 square metres of land has been marked as OSR. These OSR lands are maintained as parks by the local body.

Sources said that as the city lacks open spaces for recreation and sports due to the growing demand for land, the CMDA was looking at several proposals to develop the OSR besides increasing the green cover by planting trees.

They said there were plans to develop sports facilities in the reserved OSR in coordination with local bodies and the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu. The plan is to nurture youngsters in various sports and also provide them with sports infrastructure.

It is not only sports but also the dwindling green cover which is worrying CMDA and the Chennai Corporation. Last year the Corporation proposed to build 100 new parks in 2012-13 in the added areas of Chennai Corporation.

The green cover plan and utilisation of OSR for fruitful activities comes in the wake of unplanned urbanisation having an effect on land use, the land cover of the area and the local climate.

Climatic changes in urban areas are often characterised by increase in air temperatures compared to nearby areas, which is termed the urban heat island effect (UHIE). Major factors contributing to elevated air temperatures are the size of the city, population, reduced vegetation cover, increased density of built-up spaces, thermal properties of materials, increased energy or fuel consumption, waste heat from buildings and vehicular emissions.

A study has highlighted the existence of the heat island effect in Chennai with increasing air temperatures in a radial fashion from the suburbs towards the city centre where the mean max urban heat island intensity reaches 2.48°C during summer and 3.35°C during winter. This highlights the need for protecting the green cover in the city and using the OSR for useful activities.