CHENNAI: Even after Madras High Court's orders in 2010 stating that open space reservation (OSR) land, earmarked in every layout to serve a public purpose, cannot be altered and put to use for some other purpose, numerous OSR lands in the city continue to be encroached. One such locality with OSR norms being flouted blatantly is KK Nagar and its vicinities.
DC identified at least five OSR lands in the area with buildings occupying 30 per cent to 70 per cent of the land. Ideally, there should be no construction except for washroom on OSR land. On Bobbili Raja Salai at KK Nagar, there are two OSR lands; one occupied by corporation division office and another park has a building spanning nearly 800 square feet. “The building was originally constructed to be used as a gym-but is used by workers nearby to stay at night. The building is abandoned for more than five years now,” said Vishwa Nathan, a resident.
When a complaint was registered against the corporation division office, the officials had “justified” saying the building was constructed nearly 20 years ago and it is to aid the public only. However, it is against the OSR norms. Similarly, in Sivan park (OSR land), one of the largest lung spaces in KK Nagar, a two-storied building has been built to accommodate a yoga hall and rooms for workers at the park, when there has been already a separate space to perform yoga and five rooms for workers in the park.
“The hall is abandoned and the public still uses the old space to do yoga. The new building is only used by a few politicians for meetings and parties in the night,” alleged one of the workers at the park. In MGR Nagar Sathyamurthy Block, located very close to KK Nagar, nearly 40 grounds of OSR land are left unutilised. “As high tension overhead power cables run along the land, no building was granted permission. However, the R-10 police station built a few restrooms on OSR land and further the land is encroached by religious establishments. The corporation has been blaming the Tamil Nadu Housing Board for not handing over the land to them,” said V. Gopalakrishnan, a resident of the area. It is a similar scenario on Bharathidasan street, MGR Nagar, with temples encroaching more than 60 per cent of the land.
