M Panneerselvam’s Day did not start without spending an hour on the running track at Panagal Park, T Nagar.
Like him, walking is a daily routine for around 1,000 panagal pedestrian associations for many years.
Morning morning pedestrians will soon miss their ways because Metro Rail will take over the green space along with five other parks for phase 2 lines.
To prevent tangle acquisition of land, Metro Rail will use part or most of the six parks to build various facilities – the entry structure of the underground station, ventilation shaft or peripheral wall of the underground station.
Corridor Phase-2 118.9km can be ready in 2026.
Although CMRL may not need the whole park to arrange facilities, it may require all rooms for construction.
As a result, parks will be lost for years.
CMRL officials say six parks, including five corporate parks, will be battered for construction stations – Madhavaram’s milk colonies, Paypray markets, metro screaming, green roads, crossroads of Adyar, Panagal Park and Portal column near Okkiipakkam.
While the average size of the underground entry / exit is 150mx21.40m, CMRL recently took more than 232 square meters permanently for the construction of the station entry point in the YMCA playground and 414 other SQM during construction.
“The park will be restored to its original form after work,” said a CMRL official.
Taking over the park means loss of trees.
For example, part of Panagal Park, which has 318 trees, will be permanently taken to build the entry point of the station.
Some residents near the park said they were still in dark about which garden portion would be used for construction.
“We wrote to CMRL but there was no response,” said M Panneerselvam.
More than 220 trees cut in at least three parks for Park Phase-1 – Thiru Vi Ka in Shenoy Nagar, Nehru Park and May Day Park in Chintadripet.
One of the largest parks in the city – Thiru.Vi.Ka – hasn’t been restored.
Right when residents expect a restored park, CMRL launched a project to build an underground parking space.
In the case of phase-2, experts say it is not too late to make modifications to minimize the loss of greenery.
Shobha Menon, Guardian Mandate Founder, Nizhal said CMRL did not respond to their letters to protect the panagal garden.
“We saw what happened in Shenoy Nagar.” Sivazubramaniam Jayaraman from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, “Public space is the center of activity for people.
Although it may not be possible not to disturb these spaces while carrying out large projects such as Metro Rail, the government must request consultants to come up with designs without disturbing public area.
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