CHENNAI : Chennai’s green cover has come down drastically with the rise in the concrete jungle and it has lost more than one-fifth of the greenery in the last 20 years, according to various studies. According to a Comptroller and Auditor General Report released recently, the concrete jungle rose from 90.88 sqkm in 1979 to 541.14 sqkm in 2016 as Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) allowed blatant land use conversions resulting in shrinkage of water bodies and reduction in lung space due to vanishing greenery and open space.
K P Subramanian, former urban engineering professor with College of Engineering blamed the failure on the part of the government to notify open spaces under The Tamil Nadu Parks, Play-Fields and Open Spaces (Preservation and Regulation) Act, 1959. “All the open spaces have to be notified under the act which will even make it difficult to convert the open space for other purposes,” said the professor.
He also said that the land use zoning regulation should have been strictly enforced under the Second Master Plan to have more open space.
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Interestingly, the area under water bodies and vegetation came down from 100.98 sqkm to 91.31 sqkm and 548.53 to 442.43 sqkm respectively highlighting that CMDA planners were not prepared for such a growth.While the First Master Plan and Second Master Plan projected a total increase in built-up area by 330.58sqkm (33,058 hectare) over the 50 year period between 1976 to 2026, the actual increase as worked out using satellite imageries over 37 years period between 1979 and 2016 was 450.26 sq km, pointing to large-scale illegal constructions.
Interstingly, Subramanian says that with the expansion of Chennai Metropolitan Area, there will be more unbuilt space and the Master Plan should ensure that unbuilt open space is conserved. “ In spaces like the Central Station, the parking space that’s right outside the station could be transformed to an innovative public space where, for example, people could wait. It builds identity. Parking need not come at the cost of our public spaces. An underground parking could be arranged,” said Aswathy Dilip of ITDP “Natural resources like waterbodies should also be tapped into, without just looking at spaces like parks for public spaces,” she added.
“While there are not enough public open spaces like parks in the city, there is a question of usability even among those that exist today. It is important to see if these spaces are accessible to everyone,” said Sumana Narayanan, Researcher, Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG). “Maintenance is also an issue that must be looked into.”
‘Upload online’
Association of Professional Town Planners president K M Sadanand stressed on the need to use open spaces as children’s playground and developing it for greenery. He also said maps of all open spaces should be uploaded online
upgradation
As far as the Chennai Smart City’s priorities are concerned, both improving existing parks and creation of new public spaces feature, said a smart city official. “We already have rivers, lakes and parks. So, we are looking to upgrade the existing parks and river banks,” he said