‘Locked’ neighbourhood park irks Chitlapakkam residents

Sunil Jayaram, a member of Chitlapakkam Rising, said that the associations decided to hold a monthly programme called Sangamam in the local parks, to get children out to play in the open. 

“We noticed that during weekends, most people are happy to stay at home, instead of enjoying the public parks and lakes. We wanted to assemble the children in the neighbourhood and use this program as a forum not only to showcase their talent but also encourage them to use the public spaces. This time, we wanted to conduct the programme at Bharat Avenue Park. 

Usually, we have close to 150 people – both park users and people who visit the event after seeing it on social media. We also informed the local association, which oversees the park and they also gave us permission. 

In fact, we also had permission from Police and Panchayat to conduct this regularly,” said Sunil. However, by 5 pm on Sunday, when the event was about to begin, the residents noticed that the gates of the park were still locked. 

“We found out that somebody else had locked the park and the association people didn’t have a key. We called the Police and later, found that another resident – not a part of the association – had locked the gate, opposing the programme. There was a heated argument and the resident objected to the event saying mics were used and banners were put up. We agreed to conduct the event without the mic and banner, and the energy levels of the children ensured that it went off smoothly,” said Sunil, adding that the fracas could have been created by vested interests, who were opposed to the group’s vociferous protests against the temple encroachments on the Chitlapakkam lake. 

Following this incident, the residents are planning to officially complain to the authorities, to ensure that public spaces like parks are not locked but open for the purpose they are intended for – public use!