Green cover: Corpn to create 57 new parks in city

According to a Chennai Corporation official, the new parks would be created at a total cost of around Rs 50 crore. “We have identified land parcels across the city and we will also utilise OSR (Open Space Reserve) lands for the purpose. The project includes creation of play fields, wherever adequate spaces are available,” the official said.

The official added the civic body had already floated tenders inviting contractors to create the parks. The bids would be opened on March 10 and the work orders are expected to be issued before April. The bids have been floated in 21 packages. The civic body already maintains 632 parks of varied sizes and 163 roadside parks.

The Chennai Corporation would also create three parks under the Central government Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) mission. “The Centre has allotted additional fund of Rs 3 crore as an incentive for completing 12 new parks under the mission,” the official said. Apart from this, the civic body has taken up work for 20 parks across the city. From the 2015-2016 financial year to 2017-2018, the civic body inaugurated 55 new parks in the city at a total cost of Rs 37.74 crore.

In another move to increase the city’s green cover, the Corporation has started creating urban forests using the Miyawaki method. On Saturday, Chennai Corporation Commissioner G Prakash inaugurated the Miyawaki plantation in Royala Nagar in Valasaravakkam. Also, 2,000 saplings were planted recently on a 10-acre land in Kotturpuram, where the civic body proposed to create a park and play field.

The Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust (CRRT), has taken up a project to plant trees along the banks of the Cooum starting from Paruthipattu to the river mouth at a cost of Rs 36.61 crore. The total length of the plantation would be 60 kilometres. Around 43,000 saplings have been planted on city roads in the last two years to retain the green cover lost during cyclone Vardah.