Madras High Court judge inspects Shenoy Nagar park restored by Chennai Metro Rail

Local residents, who met Justice M. Dhandapani on his visit on Saturday, asked for an increase in green cover in the park; the restoration work was undertaken after CMRL cordoned the park off in 2011, to build an underground station

Justice M. Dhandapani of the Madras High Court on Saturday inspected the Thiru Vi Ka Park at Shenoy Nagar in Chennai to take stock of the restoration work undertaken by Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), which had constructed an underground metro station there.

The judge inspected the entire park spread over 8.8 acres in the presence of CMRL Managing Director M.A. Siddique, its Senior Counsel Jayesh B. Dolia and court-appointed amicus curiae Chevanan Mohan. A large number of local residents met the judge and asked for an increase in the green cover.

The inspection was necessitated after the Madras High Court’s former judge K.P. Sivasubramaniam wrote to the amicus curiae on March 3 and expressed complete dissatisfaction over the way in which a huge number of trees were felled to construct the underground metro station.

Local residents too echoed his view, and told the judge about how the park was filled with green cover before CMRL cordoned it off in 2011 for construction of the metro station and how it had been converted now with amenities such as a badminton court, skating rink, open air theatre and so on.

“CMRL MD Mr. Siddique was highly receptive of the suggestions made by the local residents as well as the judge, and agreed to consider the possibility of planting more saplings in the park so that it could be turned into a model park,” said Mr. Mohan after the hour-long inspection.