The only difference is that the new facility will not be continuous but will be fragmented at six spots along the stretch.
A granite-floored walkway covered with a canopy of trees will replace the space dotted with debris and invasive vegetation outside the central Buckingham Canal, between Chepauk and Greenways Road, by March 2025.
Greater Chennai Corporation called for tenders before the model code of conduct kicked in to create the roadside parks at locations outside the canal’s right of way at Navalar Nagar-Lock Nagar; Wallajah Road to Bharathi Salai; Palandi Amman Kovil Street; Singaravelar Bridge; Kailasapuram Bridge; Buckingham Canal Street; and on Canal Bank Road (Mylapore Bridge-Mandaveli 2nd Bridge). The bids, accessed by TOI, also include a two-year maintenance contract of the parks.
At all the six locations, the sides of the Buckingham Canal are inaccessible to the public due to mounds of debris, garbage, and the invasive plants.
Those spots along the canal were chosen as they have a larger space.
The parks will have granite walkways, stone benches, streetlights, bollard lights and murals with social and environmental messages, apart from a seethrough barrier enclosing the canal. Also, a line of trees will be planted along the walkway.
Asked if the park work would start after removing encroachments along the canal, sources said that the water resources department (WRD) would be taking up the project. The WRD will start removing the 18,000 encroachments after the Lok Sabha polls as part of the ₹3,648 crore-worth restoration work.
The WRD earlier planned to dredge, deepen, remove encroachments, plug 108 illegal sewage inlets, remove solid waste, and construct flood protection walls to restore 47.5km of Buckingham Canal from Ennore Creek to Muttukadu in five years.
“These roadside parks along the canal are a cosmetic intervention,” said water expert S Janakarajan. “There is a lack of coordination between different departments in restoring the Buckingham Canal.” He urged the govt to make the restoration methodologies and strategies public.
Residents, however, said the govt should ensure that sewage inflow into the canal is stopped if beautification of the stretch is being taken up.
Vijayalakshmi R, a resident of Gandhi Nagar in Adyar, said, “They should first address sewage inflow before taking up beautification work. In the mornings, when I take a walk, the stench is unbearable.”
Baskar Seshadri, an activist from Mandaveli, said, “This is a welcome move by the government. We want water and toilet facilities too. Also, the parks must be open from morning till night, if not round-the-clock.”
