Kumari Palany & Co

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Corporation of Chennai cuts trees for the sake of pedestrian plaza in T. Nagar

Posted on: 14/Jul/2018 11:05:09 AM
It is known that GCC or Greater Chennai Corporation had given assurances in the past to preserve the green cover along the popular T. Nagar. The news that has come out is the roots of old trees were cut in T. Nagar so that the work on the pedestrian plaza could be carried out.

In the recent times the civic body grabbed many eyeballs when it dug along the sides of the popular Pondy Bazaar Road to lay storm water ducts and drains. In this process trees that were more than 20 years old were damaged. The residents of this place complained that this could affect the canopy that gives shade during the summer seasons.

A member of Pondy Bazaar Merchants Association spoke about how during the meetings the corporation assured that trees would not be touched for civic works. Indiscriminate diggings here harmed the trees. He later explained that concrete structures coming around the trees would weaken the trees and they would become more fragile. These trees would be uprooted by strong winds. Inspite of many requests made by the residents and stakeholders, the civic body did not take a count on the trees present in this place. The civic body did not ensure care and planning at the base level. A petition has been sent by ChangeIndia, NGO, to the corporation plus additional commissioner of police (traffic) and Chennai Smart City Ltd to stop the work.

Mr. Narayanan belonging to this NGO spoke about how T. Nagar has been able to maintain decent green cover despite being a major commercial area. He also explained about how the present work of cutting trees for the sake of pedestrian plaza was not good.

In the past many pedestrian projects were executed by the corporation of Chennai and they did not serve the purpose. These projects also affected the green cover of Chennai city greatly. This was later confirmed by Mr. Narayanan of Change India NGO.

Proper feasibility study and planning are very essential for the pedestrian project works to be successful otherwise it would fail. The petition threw light on the fact that the work was sloppy inspite of an independent CEO and many IAS officials as directors. It also said that there was a need to carry forward in-depth feasibility study of the proposed project that would include study on environmental impact assessment etc so that no damage is done on present vegetation and landscape. Mr. Narayanan later spoke about how many pedestrian projects such as footpaths and cycle tracks executed many years back have not been assessed for results and how these facilities were unusable.

Enumeration and documentation of all the trees present in T. Nagar and holding a public consultation is very important as it would provide a road map about how the civic work would be done without destroying the green cover. The stake holders spoke about how the consultant was involved in the social, environmental and traffic assessments of the project.

CEO of Chennai Smart City Ltd, Mr. Raj Cherubal, spoke about how the officials were looking about the damage according to the complaints given to them. He later hinted about the strict instruction that were issued to take care of the trees during digging process so that trees were not harmed. He assured that no tree would be felled because of this pedestrian project.