The Guindy National Park — one of the few protected forest reserves in the nation and the only one in the city — seems to have fallen on hard times. In the last couple of weeks, a large area in the park has been cleared of vegetation with over 25 trees being chopped off. The irony is that it is being carried out to construct a percolation pond to protect the wildlife in the facility.
A vast tract of forest land is being cleared for the artificial water body, intended to serve as catchment for run-off rainwater. An earthmover was seen excavating there on Friday. The uprooted trees have been cleared and dumped away.
Employees of the park said the work has been going on for more than a week. It also involved the felling of trees — a charge vehemently denied by senior forest officials. According to an employee, the trees were felled in a hush-hush manner. “We have only been told that it is for some construction activity,” the employee said.
To those residing in the neighbouring IIT-Madras campus, who have been used to watching the land covered with trees, the development has come as a shock. For Susy Varghese, a resident, it was something difficult to digest. “I am used to spotting a large number of trees in the adjoining plot during my daily walks. It also had dense foliage. The entire land has been denuded all of a sudden,” she said. The residents have also been forced to put up with the noise of an excavator.