A committee constituted by the Madras High Court to oversee the restoration of greenery at Thiru. Vi. Ka. Park at Shenoy Nagar has reported that Chennai Metro Rail Ltd. (CMRL) has agreed to spend ₹15 lakh more for additional bamboos, peripheral plantations as well as for planting more saplings inside the park.
Appearing before Justice M. Dhandapani on Wednesday, amicus curiae Chevanan Mohan, convenor of the committee, said pursuant to its constitution by the court on October 14, it met the CMRL officials on October 21. Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) chairman Anshul Mishra too joined the meeting through virtual mode.
During the meet, the CMRL officials made a power point presentation with respect to the current status of the park.
It was stated that the park was spread over 8.8 acres and that there were 328 trees (mainly exotic) in the park before CMRL closed it for the construction of the Shenoy Nagar metro station.
The committee was apprised that 242 trees (including 21 that got uprooted during Cyclone Vardha) were felled for the construction and that 56 others were translocated. Subsequently, 4,387 saplings were planted in the park through the Miyawaki method in order to restore the greenery.
However, the committee members felt that CMRL must increase the green cover in the park and therefore held an inspection on October 26. Pursuant to the inspection and identification of spots where additional green cover could be provided, CMRL came up with a proposal on October 28 to spend another ₹15 lakh.
The officials had promised to commence work in the first week of December and complete it within 30 days, Mr. Mohan told the court. Appreciating the work done by the committee, the judge adjourned further hearing on a case, in which he had ordered restoration of the park, to March 2023.
The court appointed committee consisted of CMDA Member Secretary, Joint Director of Horticulture P. Immanuel, CMRL Cheif Advisor (Environmental) Rajeev K. Srivastava and Shenoy Nagar Residents Welfare Association president S. Sivakumar.
