CHENNAI: THE Greater Chennai Corporation has allegedly barred the entry of students and couples into a public park in the heart of city.
Notices on the walls of the 10-year-old Mayor Sundar Rao park maintained by the Greater Chennai Corporation read that ‘Students and lovers are not allowed inside’.
Security and contract staff at the park claimed that this was not only an attempt to discourage school students from bunking classes and taking shelter in the park but also to keep ‘indecent’ behaviour of couples away.
“Some couples arriving at the park behave ‘indecently’ and cause inconvenience to regular visitors to the park,” said a contract staff in the park explaining the rationale behind the notices.
However, after pictures of the posters went viral, the Chennai Corporation has denied that they had put up the notices and alleged that locals had misused the Corporation logo.
“Walkers and residents who were irked by inconvenience caused by students and lovers have stuck these notices without our knowledge,” a senior official from parks department in Greater Chennai Corporation told Express.
Amidst all these allegations and controversy, it still remains unclear as to who was behind the move.
The park regularly serves as a meeting point for some student wings of leftist parties in the city, who usually gather in the park to hold discussions or prepare for demonstrations.
A regular visitor to the park S Murugavel said, “This is a public place.
“The authorities cannot ban a certain section of the public from visiting it. The most they can do is to regulate.”