The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Adyar creek `eco-park' work begins

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 18, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Adyar creek `eco-park' work begins

By Karthik Subramanian

Construction of the compound wall next to Dr. Ambedkar Manimandapam at Raja Annamalaipuram in progress. — Photo: N. Balaji

CHENNAI, AUG. 17. The Chennai Corporation has begun work on its ambitious `eco-park' project coming up in a 52-acre stretch of Adyar creek area, gifted to the civic agency by the State Government last year.

A 2.5-km long compound wall around the proposed park's boundary is being built. The Corporation Commissioner, M.P. Vijayakumar, says the wall will help to `secure' the huge wetlands. The wall is coming up along South Canal Bank Road in Raja Annamalaipuram, Greenways Road, R.K. Mutt Road and Town Planning scheme Road.

The civic body has also started clearing wild bushes in the area. Loads of earth scooped up from Retteri and Ambattur Eri will be laid on the wetlands to improve the topsoil quality, which according to officials has degenerated over the years due to continuous discharge of sewage.

Mr. Vijayakumar says work will not disturb the creek area's ecology and that the park would not have any concrete constructions. "We have also identified a 14-acre stretch in the region, where water bodies would be restored and maintained."

The Corporation plans to throw open only certain parts of the park to the public, once the project is completed. The Joint Commissioner, Apoorva, who is handling the project, said: "We are planning to create different zones within the park, some of which will be out of bounds for visitors. The idea is to develop it as a natural reserve."

Entry inside will be from South Canal Bank Road and visitors will be allowed on this side; on the Greenways Road side, it will be a thickly wooded forest.

Encroachments

There are some encroachments within the creek area and these will be cleared once the major works begin. Corporation officials said the encroachers would be relocated with the help of Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board, which would provide them alternative accommodation.

Right now, the creek wears a rundown look due to years of continuous discharge of sewage along the Adyar River. The sewage outflow was plugged only recently.

The possibility of backwater entering the region has also been affected with debris clogging the culverts near the Quibble Island Cemetery and Karpagam Avenue. Officials said the region had suffered heavily due to encroachments. Some of the encroachments in the region have been by Government itself.

Consumer Action Group, a city-based non-governmental organisation fighting for consumer rights, filed a case in the Madras High Court against the State Government three years ago challenging the decision to allot land within the creek for the construction of the Dr. B. R. Ambedkar memorial.

The Group had filed a public interest petition in 1997 itself to maintain Adyar creek as a sanctuary. The Madras High Court, while passing orders three years ago upholding the Government decision to allow construction of the memorial, recalled the discussions in 1997 and directed the Government to preserve the remaining wetlands in the region. Till date, the region is marked as Government poramboke, a classification done as early as 1895 in the records.

Corporation officials said the development being planned in Adyar creek would be in tune with the Madras High Court judgement and after taking into account views of experts.

A senior official said the idea for the park came from the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, who had at a meeting with officials outlined her vision for creating a park of international standards within Chennai.

According to sources, the State Government has already issued orders to the Fisheries Department to vacate its training centre located within the creek. If all goes according to schedule, Corporation hopes to complete the project by next March.

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