Posh Boat Club area are protesting against the corporation's move to lay new granite pavements
Huge granite slabs have been kept in the Boat Club area ready to be laid. -DC
Chennai: Residents of posh Boat Club area have been protesting against the corporation's move to lay new granite pavements. Saying the manicured gardens they maintain outside their homes would be uprooted, they have managed to halt the project for now.The residents say they maintain the green carpet spread over almost all the pavements in the Boat Club area, which would be ruined and in any case the new granite pavements would be of less use in a sparsely populated area.
The residents have also petitioned the corporation commissioner seeking his intervention to stop laying the new pavements in the locality. "For more than a couple of months we have been struggling to save the green cover in our area from the corporation," says Anithah Panickar, a resident of Sathyanarayana Avenue.
Panickar maintains her garden on the pavements. She says it cost her around Rs25,000 for setting up her own pavement garden. "Besides, I water the grass spending '1,000 every week," she says. "There are several places which are in staunch need for pavements, the corporation can focus on those pockets," she adds.
“At several places the corporation had removed all the green and placed the rocky granite blocks all over, killing the greenery. The money spent here can be used effectively in places where the people are desperately in need of roads,” E. Muralidharan, a walker in Boat Club area, adding that residents would fight legally to sort out the issue.However, contrary opinions are also voiced on the issue where residents say the pavements are meant only for pedestrians to walk.
“There are instances when the security guards shout at pedestrians who accidentally step on the grass. The residents must realise that pavements are meant for public use and no house owner can posses any part of public property,” says RTI activist and a resident of Chamiers road R. Natarajan. Ward councilor P. Usha said that the matter was under negotiation with the residents. “It is good to have new pavements here but there are mixed opinions must residents. This comes under the Rs40 lakh worth pavement scheme covering my ward,” she said.
The corporation is laying new pavements in many parts of the city, but is encountering a peculiar problem in this particular pocket of the city. “Suggestions from the contractors and other officials must also be taken into consideration before coming out with the decision,” said a corporation engineer.
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