Even if Corporation of Chennai keeps its word and sets up 100 more parks
in the suburbs, the city will still not have as many parks as most
other metropolises in the country. Chennaiites will have one public
green space every 500 metres when its 260 parks increase to 360. But the
city will still have fewer parks than Delhi, which has 15,000 parks,
Bangalore (721) and Hyderabad (709). There are nearly 1,300 parks in
Mumbai but Brihan Mumbai Mahanagar Palika maintains only 209 of them.
Per capita park space in Chennai is also low, at 0.41 sqm (recreational
green spaces maintained by the Chennai Corporation) which is less than
other metros. By that data, it should not come as a surprise that most
other cities, with the exception of Mumbai, have more green cover than
Chennai. While Chennai has green cover of 4.54%, it is 19% in Delhi,
6.8% in Bangalore and 9.48% in Hyderabad. Only 1.28% of bustling Mumbai
is canopied.

Environmentalists and residents in the city say
the city needs more parks. They want the authorities to strictly
implement the open space reservation (OSR) rules. According to the
rules, a building that occupies more than 10,000 sqm are required to
earmark 10% of the area as OSR land.

Former Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority
chief planner G Dattatri says there are several vacant plots and OSR
plots in the city. “It should not be difficult to develop more parks in
the city,” he said. “But the authorities should also allocate adequate
funds for the maintenance of the parks.” He says a lack of public spirit
in Chennai has led to the deterioration of most of its parks.

Corporation sources said that the parks department faces a shortage of
staff and is ill-equipped. “The construction and maintenance of parks is
the responsibility of the zonal offices,” said a senior corporation
official in the civic body’s parks department. “We are unable to monitor
maintenance closely. A huge shortage of staff is also hampering work.”

Chennaiites say the city needs more parks because it needs to increase
its lung space. “I was shocked to see how many parks there are in
Bangalore. In Chennai, on the other hand, it is hard to find a good
park,” said Roshan Vincent, a student.

Nice places to be, but why don’t they remain open?

IT professional Ashok Kumar has always wanted to visit the
corporation-owned Panagal Park in T Nagar, but is yet to do so. The
timings of the park — 5am to 9am and 4pm to 9pm on working days and 5am
to 9pm on holidays — are unsuitable for him.

Others said the ‘unsuitable’ timings forced
them to visit shopping malls and theatres. “If these parks are opened
for longer periods, we could save some money by reducing shopping or
watching movies. It will also help us breathe some good air,” said a
city-based student.

When contacted, mayor Saidai S Duraisamy
said: “I have received several petitions from the public to extend the
timings of the parks. We will seriously consider this proposal and take
necessary steps.” Some residents said public participation was vital.
Exnora International joint secretary R Govinda Raj said: “The civic body
should consider involving the public in developing parks. If it extends
the timings, more people will be attracted to these parks.”

Lakshmi Vasudevan, a homemaker in Adyar, said: “Most parks in other
metros function from 5am to 9pm. Here, they are closed by 8.30pm citing
some silly reasons. Chennai is safer than many cities and steps should
be taken to extend the timings of parks here. An adequate number of
security guards should deployed in these parks.”

Many people
also wanted the corporation to improve maintenance at parks. Nadeshan G
of Anna Nagar said parks were in a neglected state. Anantha Naryanan of
Ambattur said: “The corporation park in Thiruvengadam near here is in a
bad state and no action has been taken despite repeated complaints.”