Pre-planned park demolition shocks Pattalam residents

Chennai: The Greater Chennai corporation’s move to demolish the historical Selvapathy Chettiar park on Strahans Road in Pattalam left the neighbourhood in shock, many of whom questioned the haste of it.

A little past 10 pm on Tuesday, workers armed with jackhammers, and bull dozers, moved in and demolished the park only leaving the memorial tower clock behind, when they wound up their operation at 4 am on Wednesday.

Rajendran, a local resident and an AIADMK cadre, told DC that the operation was pre-planned. “By 2 pm on Tuesday, they brought the workers in and kept them waiting at the corner of DeMellows Road intersection. Slowly, JCBs moved in and the barricades were put in by 6 pm in anticipation by the police. It was all planned very well,” he noted.

Hemant Kumar, a class three student, was shocked to find that the park was missing. “I used to play with my friends inside the park. It was safer than playing on the road. I slept early on Tuesday and when I woke up this morning, I could not believe my eyes because there was no park,” he said.

The demolition process was not without incidents. Locals, including CPI(M) cadres, who got wind of the local body’s intent, tried to prevent the demolition. “Police battalions were brought in which scared most of the locals away,” said L Sundararajan, CPI(M)’s North Chennai district committee secretary.

When the remaining crowd tried to prevent the workers, the police resorted to lathicharge. One demonstrator’s head was broken open with the attack leaving a one inch laceration on his skull. Women demonstrators were dragged and taken to a vehicle. The detainees were kept at a community centre in Perambur till Wednesday afternoon.

B. Devaki, former corporation councillor, told DC that the corporation was executing the work “under pressure” from influential politicians in the government. Corporation sources told DC that a sitting member of the Assembly has stakes in the real estate project.

“I am told that the approval for this was sought from the council outside of the proceedings. This is the level of commitment shown by the politician to this private player,” alleged Devaki.

But for locals like Raju and Balasubramaniam, who have spent the past five decades of their lives in the locality, the writing is on the wall. “Soon, they will demolish the tower also. Because if they want to widen the road, they cannot do it without taking it down,” said Raju, citing the corporation’s “official reason” for the park demolition.

“The place used to be called meeting road. Leaders like MGR, Karunanidhi and many others have held public meetings at the clock tower junction. Hordes of people used to attend. Those will just be memories now,”Balasubrama-niam said.

As far as the corporation is concerned, everything was done by the books. “Nothing was violated and the demolition was done as per rules,” said a corporation official.